Undercover Vacation
by CSI-Ash
Summary: Grissom and Sara must go undercover to help the FBI catch a serial killer on the loose. Pre-GSR Canon : Set between season 5 finale and late season 6 I don't own anything of CSI fic, except for the characters I created. Rated Teen. Please read and Review!


"Oh boy, this is going to be a long night…" Sara said as she turned to Grissom that was crouched down at the ground looking at something. Grissom was looking at a broken piece of front-end frame of an SUV that lay smashed to bits into a streetlight pole in front of them. When he didn't answer she continued:

"There's SUV parts everywhere…" She paused. "What are you thinking?" He finally looked up from the piece of metal he was holding and showed it to her.

"I somehow get the impression this was a case of sabotage… It seems as though part of the vehicle frame was partially cut to weaken it. We'll have to examine it further at the lab for analysis and maybe get tool marks off of it for comparison." Just as Grissom finished, Greg came walking over to them.

"Hey you guys, just talked to the paramedics, both vics were sent to Desert Palms in critical condition. Brass will keep us posted."

"Good. Thank you Greg. Now, could you get this evidence back to the lab ASAP?"

"Sure thing boss." Greg grabbed the bags of evidence Grissom handed him and made his way to his Denali. "See you guys later at the lab."

"So you really speculate that this was sabotage Griss?"

"I don't speculate Sara, this is what this piece of frame is telling me, besides, there was no sign of alcohol or drugs involved or any other vehicle for that matter. If the frame was weakened, it wouldn't have taken much to snap it in half, even something as little as..."

"A pothole?" Sara finished for him.

"Yes, that's possible."

Sara pointed some 20 feet away where a large pothole lay in the middle of the street.

"That would definitely do the trick. Good job." Grissom admitted.

"Thanks..." Sara wasn't too sure how to react, Grissom hadn't been one to give her compliments very often, and when he did, she usually was taken off guard and struggling to know how to react. An uncomfortable silence started to set around them.

"Well… I guess we'll photograph and catalogue the remaining evidence here and tow what's left of the SUV here at the lab." Grissom said in his supervisor tone of voice Sara knew too well.

"Sure thing Griss."

And they both went to work finishing collecting the evidence surrounding the mangled SUV.

* * *

Grissom and Sara rode in comfortable silence on the way back to the lab. Grissom noticed that Sara was struggling to stay awake.

"Sara you should go home after signing in the evidence. You look tired."

"Uh? No. No, I'm fine, I've worked doubles plenty of times before, besides I won't sleep much if I go home anyways."

"Are you sure Sara?" Wow he can be persistent Sara thought.

"Yes Griss, I'm fine." And she left it at that, she didn't feel like arguing, she was too tired to do so.

"Alright then, but don't feel obligated to stay until the evidence pans out." When he didn't get one of Sara's witty answers back, he looked over to his side to find her dozed off in the passenger seat, quietly snoring. Grissom took the time to take in the view: Sara looked so peaceful while she slept, it seemed like all the worry of work seemed to have drained away from her features. As Grissom was looking at Sara's sleeping form he was surprised to notice that he had a small grin forming on his face. Just then, the sound of a vehicle horn took him out of his reverie as the light had now turned green but he had been oblivious to it.

* * *

"Why does this woman do this to me all the time?" Grissom thought to himself as he sped away from the annoyed driver behind him.

Grissom parked the Denali in his parking spot and looked over to Sara who was still fast asleep in the passenger seat, he couldn't help but admire how she could work herself to this level of tiredness in order to put murderers behind bars and speak for the victims that couldn't speak for themselves. Grissom knew that he'd have to wake her up sooner or later.

"Sara?" he asked her quietly. Nothing.

"Sara?" he asked a little louder this time. Nothing.

"You have got to be kidding me… Who would think Sara could be such a deep sleeper?" Grissom thought to himself.

Grissom wasn't entirely wrong, Sara had partially woken up after the car behind them had honked at them, and took a peek and noticed that Grissom would occasionally look at her. "Let's just see how far he'll go to wake me up…" Sara thought to herself trying not to smile.

"Sara, we're at the lab, you need to wake up honey." And he reached over and gently shook her shoulder.

"Uh?" Sara started stretching and squinted her eyes as the interior light of the Denali went on, but not without noticing that he called her "honey".

"I said, that we're at the lab. You fell asleep shortly after I asked you how tired you were."

"Oh. How long was I out for?"

"A good twenty minutes. Sara, you're exhausted, go home to get some sleep after we bring in the evidence. Do you need a ride home?" Sara was taken by surprise by Grissom's offer.

"No, I should be fine. I slept for twenty minutes, that's more than what I've been getting most of these days anyways." She added with a sleepy chuckle.

"Is something wrong Sara? Is something bothering you?" Grissom wasn't too sure how and where he had gotten the courage to ask her more personal questions. Sara was again surprised at Grissom's behavior tonight, what got into him?

"No, I'm fine Griss. Just have been spending most of my time here and not home that's all." She gave him a weak sleepy smile.

"Alright then, let's get this evidence in and go home, we've both worked doubles."

"Sure." Sara was too tired to argue.

They both made their way into the lab holding their evidence bags.

* * *

Grissom made his way to Trace carrying his evidence.

"How can I be of service for you tonight Gil?" Hodges looked a little too happy to see Grissom. All Grissom could think was "How can this man always be happy to see me…?" And was quite annoyed at the other man's brown-nosing behavior these days.

"Process those ASAP." Grissom handed him 3 evidence sample bags and walked out of the lab rat's lair before he got another one of his witty answers. As Grissom walked out of the Trace Lab, Brass came and joined him.

"Hey Gil, got some good news for you."

"And what would that be?"

"Solved your case before you even got here."

"You're kidding." Grissom was surprised.

"Went to Desert Palms to interview the two vics that are now in stable condition. Turns out the wife of the driver's mechanic and the driver were having an affair, and the mechanic took it pretty hard. Turns out he did more than just an oil change two days ago when the driver brought in his car, maybe did a little sabotage work too? Man, must have been a hot deal, he got the sabotage free of charge, it's not even on the receipt." Brass added with a smug chuckle.

"Thanks Jim. Now, I'm going home. I've worked a long double."

"Wait, I even got some more good news. Ecklie and the FBI want to talk to you in his office."

"Very funny Jim." Grissom knew when the FBI was involved, nothing good would come out of it. "Thanks for making my double a triple Jim." Grissom said with slumped shoulders.

"No problem. Anyways, I've got a dirty mechanic, so to speak, to bring in for questioning." And he walked away towards PD before Grissom could answer.

"Now what do the FBI and Ecklie want from me now?" Grissom wondered.

* * *

Grissom walked into Ecklie's office to find Ecklie behind his desk, an unknown man sitting in a chair beside him that could be none other than the FBI, and finally Sara sitting in a chair across from them, looking just as confused and frustrated as he was.

"This better be brief, we have cases to solve." He looked over at Sara and then back at the two men. "And we both have been working doubles and would wish to go home to get some sleep." Grissom was in no mood to beat around the bush.

"Alright then Gil." Ecklie admitted. He turned over to the man sitting beside him. "I'll let you introduce yourself." The man got up from his seat and walked over to Grissom who was still standing in the doorway.

"Good evening, I'm Joseph Starks, FBI." And handed his hand out to Grissom to shake his hand, then shake Sara's hand as she stood up from her seat.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is so important that couldn't wait until next shift? I was on my way outside the lab when I was told to come here." Sara wanted an answer just as much as Grissom.

"Are your CSI's always so direct?" Starks asked Ecklie, but all he got from Ecklie was a frown.

"As you may have heard, there is a serial killer that goes by the nickname "Kouple Killer" on the loose that is responsible for at least a dozen murders across the US. His real name is Leonard Harper, with alises Ed Hawkes and Joe Hillsbourne. His victims are newly wed couples. Numerous psychiatrists who have studied this case came to believe this was brought on when he snapped and murdered his girlfriend, Alannah Dixon, in which he badly abused, refused to marry him. They believe that because he never got to be newly wed himself, he is jealous and murders other newly wed couples. What's interesting about the case that led the FBI to investigate, was that the killer worked as a cop at Carson City PD for years. In addition to his killing spree, he was suspected to be involved in money and drug evidence going missing in Carson City. We have his Desert Eagle that he killed his girlfriend with in evidence and have been trying to track him down ever since. We now believe to have found his new destination yesterday."

"If you have found his location, what do you need our help for?" Sara asked Starks.

"This is when you two come into the picture." Starks said cryptically.

"What do you mean by that?" Grissom wasn't any bit happy about where this was going.

"All of our other attempts to get this killer in the past 6 months have failed, and we were thinking of taking different approach towards this investigation." He replied cryptically.

All Grissom could think was "Doesn't surprise me they haven't gotten their guy yet…"

Starks continued: "We believe the most successful way at getting our guy would be to send two CSI's undercover."

Sara and Grissom looked at each other in utter surprise, then looked at Ecklie.

"You can't be serious! Why us?" Sara asked Ecklie ignoring Starks.

"Both of you are maxed out on overtime, and none of the other nightshift are able to go. We couldn't send anyone from Days either, as we're already short staffed because one got into an car accident and another is on maternity leave." Ecklie said in a as-a-matter-of-a-fact manner.

Sara slumped back into her seat not saying a word, thinking everything through.

"And where exactly is this undercover operation going to take place? Vegas?" Grissom asked Starks.

"No, and not in Nevada either. We suspect our killer is in Hawaii."

"Hawaii?" Grissom and Sara asked in unison.

"Yes, Hawaii. More specifically Honolulu. Many couples on their honeymoons go on vacation there and we had a few tips from our sources that our killer would be taking a vacation himself." Starks replied.

"And how long is this undercover operation going to last?" Sara asked both men sitting across from her.

"We're thinking around 2 weeks, but it depends on how the investigation goes. Any more questions?" Starks replied.

"As a matter of a fact, yes. Just how violent is this killer? We're the ones putting our lives at risk here." Grissom was concerned about their safety, especially Sara's after that deal with the Strip Strangler case.

"I assure you, there will be a team of FBI's stationed around your location, monitoring everybody's moves 24/7." Starks assured him. "If you have any further questions they will be answered in this folder." He handed Grissom a folder. Grissom took it in hand but didn't bother to open it.

"So, let me get this straight, we are not given the choice whether or not we are willing to participate in this undercover mission?" Grissom asked Ecklie.

Ecklie shrugged his shoulders. "It would definitely raise the integrity of this lab, prove great relations between this lab and the FBI, not to mention it wouldn't hurt either of your reputations and resumes. Besides, both of you are maxed out on overtime and if I am not wrong, neither of you have taken vacation days for at least the past year or two."

Grissom and Sara looked at each other in silence.

"May you excuse us for a moment?" Grissom then looked at Sara and pointed his head towards the door. Sara followed him outside Ecklie's office as he closed the door behind him.

"Well…" was all Grissom could say before Sara cut him off.

"I absolutely hate Ecklie, they're forcing us into this! They have no right!" she yelled in a whisper fashion not to attract unwanted attention.

"I know that Sara, but I don't think we have much choice." He said sheepishly.

"You can't be serious Grissom!"

"I'm afraid so. Look on the brighter side, it could be seen as a vacation rather than a undercover mission." Sara was again surprised for the tenth time that day by this man. She started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Grissom was confused at Sara's behavior.

"Ok, so let me get this straight, did you just say you would be happy to take a vacation? From what I've observed, you've taken less vacation time than I have!"

"We all deserve a break sometimes." Was all Grissom could say. Again, Sara was surprised. Grissom was looking forward to taking a vacation with her in Hawaii in an undercover mission? Was she dreaming?

"Are you sure you're not overtired or under the influence of something Grissom?" Sara said laughing.

"No..." Sara felt bad for joking around, the man had been serious all along and she had hurt his feelings. One of the few times he opened up to her and she shut him down.

"I'm sorry Griss, I'm overtired myself, and am just surprised at this whole undercover mission thing, that's all…" Sara looked in his eyes and saw that his hurt seemed to disappear after her apology.

"So I suppose you choose to go through with this?" Grissom asked her.

"Under one condition." Sara said cryptically.

"Which is?" He was intrigued.

"I don't do it because of Ecklie or the FBI, but to catch this killer and spare his next victims' lives." Sara said in a serious manner. Grissom knew that her CSI self would always be willing to fight for the innocent, and he admired that about her.

"I'm fine with that. I'd like to think of it the same way also." And he gave her a grin. "You just know how me and the FBI work so well together…" he said lightly rolling his eyes.

"Don't remind me." She said with a little laugh.

"Well, shall we go talk to them again?"

"Right there with you."

* * *

In the meantime that Grissom and Sara were in the hallway talking, Starks was the first to talk in the office.

"Are those two your best CSI's?" he asked Ecklie informally.

"They are among the best in Nevada, if not country."

"Their experience in the field and keen observational skills would definitely benefit this investigation. Will they go through with this? They both looked uncertain, especially her." Starks mentioned.

"They know better than to turn down a mission like this." Was all Ecklie could answer, and Starks knew to stop talking. Starks had heard that the director of the LV Lab seemed like the type you wouldn't want to deal with on a daily basis, and now he believed it.

Ecklie softened up "As much as I know both of them might have attitude adjustments to attend, their solve rates are much above others', and as you may have noticed, both are maxed out on overtime and spend more time here at the lab than at home. Sometimes I wonder that neither has burnt out yet. I can't afford to lose some of this lab's best CSI's." Starks nodded in agreement.

Just then Sara and Grissom entered Ecklie's office again and sat down in the two chairs.

"Sara and I have discussed it, and we will go through with this undercover operation." Grissom told both men, looking at Sara as she nodded.

"What happens with our ongoing case?" Sara asked Ecklie.

Before Ecklie could answer, Grissom did. "Brass updated me when he came back from Desert Palms, the suspect will be in for questioning shortly. Greg can take care of processing the evidence along with the rest of the shift while Cath takes charge." Then he added almost in a whisper "I'll explain it to you later." Ecklie nodded towards Grissom.

"So, when do we leave for this undercover trip?" Sara asked Starks.

"Your flight to Honolulu is scheduled for 11:30 am today."

"That's nearly 10 hours from now!" Sara looked at Starks and Ecklie with wide eyes.

"Better get home, pack and get some sleep then." Starks didn't care much, he was leaving in mid afternoon instead.

"Sara gave Grissom a sideward glance that told him she wasn't the least bit thrilled.

"Alright, I must get going to make the rest of your arrangements. Here is your flight information." He handed Grissom a medium sized envelope. "And don't forget your folder." He pointed towards the file that lay on the desk. "All you need to know is in that folder, and I suggest you look at it on your flight, since you probably won't have time to go through it beforehand." He held out his hand out to Grissom. "It was an honor to meet you Doctor Grissom, and we at the FBI are grateful for your participation in this investigation." He let go of Grissom's hand to shake Sara's hand. "Same thing goes for you Miss Sidle." Sara gave him a weak smile in return.

"Now I must get going. I shall see you two later on." And before anyone in Ecklie's office could answer, Starks had left the office.

"You heard the man, you two should go home and get ready to leave."

"What about Catherine, does she know that she'll be in charge of the shift?"

"I'll make those arrangements Gil." And Ecklie practically shoved them out of his office as he closed the door and returned to his paper work.

Sara looked at Grissom. He knew what was going through her mind.

"How about I pick you up tomorrow at nine? We can leave the Denali parked at the lab while we head to the airport in a cab."

"Are you sure? I can drive here you know."

"That's nonsense. I'll pick you up. Your apartment is on my way to the lab anyways." Grissom persisted.

"Sure, thanks. I appreciate it." She smiled back at him.

"Alright, better head on home then. See you tomorrow morning." He patted her shoulder and walked towards the locker room to grab his things. Sara simply walked out of the lab to her car. She had been on her way out when they had brought her back into Ecklie's office. Today was going to be one long day…

* * *

Sara woke up to her beeping alarm, it read 8:00 am. She outstretched her arms and rubbed her eyes. 8:00am had come much too fast. She got up put on her housecoat and made her way to her kitchen to grab a fresh cup of coffee, glad she remembered to put the timer on after packing her things and falling asleep. She started to make herself an omelet when the sudden sound of someone knocking on her door surprised her so much she dropped the egg she was holding on her foot, making a big mess in the process.

"Ah come on!" she swore as she looked at her egg-drenched foot. She quickly grabbed a few paper towels, dried her foot and made her way to her door.

"Who knocks on people's doors at eight in the morning?!?!" she swore under her breath. She looked into her peephole to get her answer. Grissom.

* * *

Grissom had gotten up at 7:00, and had eaten, gotten ready and packed all his things by 7:45. He was bored and finally decided 15 minutes later that he should head over to Sara's a bit early, she'd probably had been up earlier than him and was probably just as bored as he was. He grabbed his rolling suitcase, sunglasses and keys and headed out of his townhouse to drive to Sara's apartment.

* * *

Sara panicked. "Why in the world is he here 45 minutes early?!?!" She had no choice but to open up her door clad in pajamas and a foot full of dried egg. "Great, just great." She muttered. She opened up the door to find a surprised looking Grissom holding some kind of brown take out bag.

"I'm so sorry Sara, I shouldn't have come over so early… I had nothing else to do. I just thought I'd bring some fresh bagels and muffins…" he stood on the other side of the open door, staring at the ground then at the brown paper bag he was holding. Sara actually thought he looked kind of sweet holding breakfast in a bag and looking like a little boy who brought his new next-door neighbors a welcome gift.

"It's okay Griss, come in, don't mind me, I should have gotten up earlier. I decided to sleep in a bit this morning. I just need to eat some breakfast and take a quick shower. I'll be ready in twenty minutes tops." She stood aside to let him in. Grissom immediately noticed that Sara had done quite a bit of re-decorating in her apartment since the last time he had dropped by to give her a case file. New pictures had been hung up on the wall, she had gotten a new set of furniture, a matching black couch and loveseat, and a new bookshelf full of forensics books lay in the corner of the living room. Sara stared at Grissom who was admiring her apartment.

"Earth to Grissom." He snapped out of his reverie.

"Yes? Sorry, I was admiring your new decorating."

"Oh, Thanks… _and I said_, I was going to go get a shower before eating since I splattered the last of the eggs in my fridge on my foot while making an omelet and let's just say my foot is pretty disgusting and sticky at the moment."

"Oh sure, no problem." He was still taking in this new pajama-clad Sara, since he would have never seen her as the type to wear a soft blue fluffy plaid housecoat, but she never seemed to cease to surprise him.

"Alright, make yourself at home. And yes, I do have Discovery Channel on my dish if that's what you're wondering." She said with a smile as she disappeared into the hallway.

Grissom stood there, surprised. Was she flirting with him? Grissom shook his head and sat down on the new couch. He grabbed a blueberry muffin from the brown bag and turned on Sara's tv. Not to his surprise, the tv was on Discovery, and wouldn't you know it, there was a special on the colony collapse disorder of the honey bee. Maybe this undercover trip with Sara wasn't going to be that bad after all, he thought to himself.

* * *

Sara was walking out of the washroom 15 minutes later, with wet hair and clad in a plain black polo shirt and capri jeans.

"Ready to go?" he asked her as he handed her the bag containing bagels and muffins.

"Thanks." She said as she grabbed a muffin. "And yes, I'm ready to go.

"I'll grab your suitcase if you like." Grissom offered.

"You mean suitcases?" Sara laughed, as she went and grabbed a large rolling suitcase from her bedroom and a large carry-on bag from the washroom. "You can grab the rolling suitcase if you like. Thanks a lot by the way." She grabbed the carry-on, her purse and her apartment keys.

"Let's go."

* * *

They walked out of Sara's apartment building out to Grissom's Denali. Grissom put Sara's luggage beside his in the back. They hopped into the Denali and he started backing out of the parking lot.

"I looked over the flight information that Starks gave us yesterday, and it turns out that they put us on a private flight from McCarran airport."

Sara's eyes widened. "Private flight? Man, these FBI guys really mean business."

"There was a note attached that said that someone from the FBI would be picking us up from the lab. I have to go to my locker anyways to pick up the case folder Starks gave us yesterday, I left it in my locker by mistake yesterday."

"You? Forget something? _That's_ the surprise of the century." She laughed.

"I tend to forget some things sometimes. Besides, the file was in my locked locker, no one has a key to it besides me, so the case isn't compromised in any way." Grissom said defensively.

"Hey, I never said anything about compromising, I just find it unusual that you forgot, but I guess we'd both been working doubles. And I'm still tired. Why couldn't they schedule us a later flight for goodness' sake?"

"Because they're the FBI."

"You got a point there." She flashed him a smile.

They drove in friendly silence the rest of the way to the lab.

* * *

At the lab, Sara and Grissom got out of the Denali and brought their luggage into the break room and waited for the FBI to pick them up and bring them to the airport. Sara and Grissom sat down in the break room and started reading some forensic magazines that were lying around. Just then, Hodges came into the break room to get some coffee, but was surprised to see two workaholics that weren't schedule to work.

"Now what brings you two here so early?" He asked them. Sara, by Grissom's reaction, could see that Grissom was really annoyed by the lab rat lately, and decided she'd answer for him.

"Good thing you're not in the field Hodges, look behind you."

He looked behind him to find pieces of luggage.

"You're finally moving in?" Hodges was attempting to be snarky but being quite unsuccessful at it.

"Was there something in particular you wanted besides the coffee Hodges?" Grissom asked him.

"Um, no sir."

"Then get back to work, that Trace won't get processed by itself." And Grissom simply returned to his magazine he held in his hands.

Hodges, uncomfortable, grabbed his coffee and left the break room. All Sara could do is hold her laughter behind her own magazine.

"What?" Grissom wasn't sure what Sara was doing, hiding behind her magazine. She put down her magazine and smiled at him: "I just find it hilarious how he follows you like some lost puppy, wanting to do nothing but please his master."

Grissom frowned at her.

"Believe it or not, I miss Greg as a lab rat, he brought so much life to the lab." Sara admitted.

"The boy has grown up." Was all Grissom could say.

Before Sara could answer, a man clad in a navy blue suit came into the break room.

"Doctor Grissom, Miss Sidle?"

"Yes, who's asking?" Grissom asked the man.

"Henry Stevensen, FBI." He showed his badge. "I will be driving you to the airport to your private flight.

"Alright, let's go then." Sara pointed to their luggage.

"Don't want to be late for our flight." Grissom said as he grabbed his luggage and they started to follow Henry out to his black SUV parked near the entrance.

* * *

The drive to the airport was a quiet one. They got the airport in record time, and instead of dropping them off near the main entrances of the airport, Henry took a private driveway beside the main terminal that led to a small hanger beside the rest of the other airport hangers. He parked right by that particular hanger.

"Here we are. The FBI has a private hanger with our own private planes. You'll be taking one of our Cessna's to Honolulu Airport. Andrew Scotts, FBI, will be your pilot."

"Thank you." Grissom told the driver as they got out of the SUV to grab their luggage.

Henry helped them with their luggage and then held out his hand to Grissom "It was a pleasure to meet you Doctor Grissom, as well as you Miss Sidle." He said as he shook her hand also. "I must get going. Andrew will explain you the further details concerning your departure and arrival in Honolulu." And before Grissom or Sara could reply, he was back in his SUV and kicking up dust on the road.

The hanger door started to open when a man clad in a pilot's uniform came out of a door.

"Hello, you must be Doctor Grissom and Miss Sidle. I'm pleased to meet you. As you most probably have been informed, I am Andrew Scotts and will be your pilot for your flight to Hawaii. Do you need help with your luggage?"

"No, we should be fine." Grissom told him as he grabbed his luggage and Sara followed.

"Alright, let me show you to the plane we will be taking." He told them as he led them into the hanger where a twenty-some-passenger-sized Cessna was parked.

"Wow, nice plane." Sara admitted.

"Thank you." Andrew nodded.

They climbed up the stairs and entered the plane. The plane looked much larger inside than it looked on the outside. Rather than finding rows of small uncomfortable seats, they found a few large comfortable seats. The inside of plane had the atmosphere of a large living room.

"Wow…" Sara admired the fancy décor.

Grissom was speechless.

"You may put your luggage in the back of the plane. Our departure is set in 10 minutes. If you need me, I will be in the cockpit." He turned on his heels and walked into the cockpit of the plane and closed the door behind him.

"Alright let's get this stuff in the back and get settled in." Sara grabbed her luggage and headed for the back.

"Grissom…? There's already two pieces of luggage here…"

"What do you mean?" he walked over to her carrying his own luggage in the process.

"Wait…" She looked closer at the labels attached to the zippers. "One says my name, the other has yours. Was it written somewhere that we would have pieces of luggage waiting for us?"

"Not that I remember, but I haven't had the chance to read the case file… Let's get back to the front and wait until we're in the air to figure this out, we should be leaving soon."

"Sure. Then we can take at look at that case file to see what's going on." She said as she made her way to the front of the plane to sit in one of the big comfortable seats.

"Man, I could fall asleep in one of these…" She reclined it and closed her eyes.

"Sara, how can you be tired, you slept in…?" he gave her a small smile and sat down in the seat next to her. Sara pouted.

"You are right, these are comfortable…" He agreed.

Suddenly the intercom started. The voice was clearing his throat "This is your captain speaking, we will be departing in one minute. Please put on your seatbelts and enjoy the flight. I will let you know when it will be safe to take off your seatbelts. Thank you." The intercom shut off.

"Let's start looking at that case file." Sara looked at Grissom that was holding it in his hands.

"Good idea."

Just then the plane started moving out of the hanger and onto the runway.

* * *

Grissom slowly opened the file to find one small folder with his name, and another with Sara's name on it.

"Let's start with this." He handed her the small file bearing her name. He set the case file next to him and opened his small file bearing his name.

His read:

Your new identity:

Name: Jeff Howard Lyndsley

Hometown: San Jose, California

Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada

Education: Bach. Biochemistry: Harvard Dental Medicine Graduate

Occupation: Orthodontist, owns private practice

Appearance:

-Dark Brown hair

-No facial hair

-Casual clothes

Personality: Open minded, carefree, easygoing, hardworking

"Sara?" Grissom's eyes were as wide as pie plates. Sara was too occupied reading her own file to hear him. Hers read the following:

Name: Amber Rebecca Lyndsley, nee McDaugherty

Hometown: San Diego, California

Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada

Education: Bach. Microbiology: Harvard Medical School Graduate

Occupation: Surgeon at Desert Palms ER

Appearance:

-Glasses

-Very feminine fashion style

-Blonde hair

Personality: Open minded, carefree, easygoing, hardworking

Sara looked up from her file with very scared eyes at Grissom. Neither said anything for a few seconds.

"First things first, why is the appearance of my new identity different from my own? Is it a mistake?" Grissom asked her. "Is yours okay?"

"Not even close! They pegged me as a blonde with glasses!"

"Well I'm not any better, I'm a dark haired and beardless..."

"What else does your file say?" Sara asked him, scared of his reply.

"I grew up in San Jose, went to Harvard, and now own my own Orthodontic practice in Vegas…"

"A dentist!" Sara started laughing loudly.

Grissom was frustrated. "Well, let's see who you are…" he leaned over and grabbed her paper before she was able to move it away.

"A surgeon at Desert Palms? Why was I the dentist?" Grissom pouted. "Wait a second…."

"What's wrong Grissom? Angry that I'm a doctor while you poke at teeth for a living?" she laughed again.

"Oh my God…" the color drained from his face when he compared both his and her files. Sara stopped laughing and became concerned.

"Seriously, what's wrong Griss?" He took his own paper and hurriedly flipped to the next page. It read:

Relationship Status: Married

Spouse: Amber Rebecca Lyndsley, nee McDaugherty

Met: In Boston while both attending Harvard University

Together since: February 18, 1995

Engaged: November 15, 2004

Wedding date: September 8, 2006 at Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

Honeymoon: Honolulu, Hawaii

"Oh my God…" Grissom repeated. He took a deep breath. How was she going to react to the fact that they are impersonating a married couple on their honeymoon?? Grissom's head was spinning.

Sara was worried. She had never seen Grissom so flustered and pale as a ghost.

"Griss, seriously, what's… wrong?" She laid a hand on his shaking one, and then with the other hand, took the paper he was holding to read it. She started reading it and her eyes started reading faster and faster.

"You can't be serious!!" Sara yelled loudly.

"I'm afraid so…"

"How can they leave out a detail like this?!?!?"

"I don't know… maybe because they thought we wouldn't accept to come if they did?"

"So… that's it?"

"I'm afraid so Sara. We're married." He still had panic written all over his face.

Just then, the intercom went on: "This is your captain speaking. We are currently flying at 36,000 feet, and on our way to Honolulu. It is now safe to take off your seatbelts and do as you wish. Feel free to grab a drink or snack in the back."

Grissom took off his seatbelt and started pacing in the plane. Sara was worried about him.

"Griss, it's going to be alright… I'm more worried about what's in those suitcases at the back…" Grissom started walking towards the back where the suitcases were.

"Hey, wait up!" Sara quickly followed

Grissom took the suitcase labeled with his name and opened it to find…

"What's this? An electric razor, hair dye, tropical theme clothes…" Sara said as it donned on her. She quickly grabbed the suitcase labeled with her name and opened it. There, lay among a few dresses, a pair of dark rimmed glasses, a two small jewelry boxes and a box of blonde hair dye.

Sara and Grissom both looked at each other. Sara dared to open one of the jewelry boxes. Her assumption had been right…

Grissom, which had calmed down a bit, wasn't that scared about them impersonating a married couple, but was scared of how things would play out and how Sara would react to it. He slowly reached down to grab the small jewelry box from her.

"What are you doing?" Sara was confused. Grissom's mind was deciding between flirting with Sara, or pushing her away, but to his surprise, his fun side won over. Grissom grabbed the ring from the small box and grabbed Sara's left hand. He seemed cool and collected with everything. The only thing that Sara could do is stare at him holding her hand and holding the ring in the other.

"Sara will you be my wife for the next two weeks?" Sara could barely contain her laughter.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me!" She started laughing, as did he.

"And, what's your answer?"

"I don't much choice here do I?" Sara laughed. "Just tell me that would definitely not be the way you proposed to someone!" Her stomach started to hurt, as she was laughing so hard.

"To answer your question, no." He smiled back at her as he slipped the diamond ring onto her finger.

"Is it just me, or does this just feel like one big hallucination Griss?"

"That's the understatement of the year, that's for certain." Grissom laughed. Sara couldn't remember the last time when she and Grissom had actually gotten a good laugh together, and that they were back to flirting with each other again, just like old times. She certainly missed his wonderful, yet rarely heard laugh.

Sara gave him one of her signature Sara-Smiles and looked again behind the piece of luggage. There lay hidden behind, some kind of a large laptop case with a rather large box beside it.

"What's this? She opened up the laptop case to find a piece of paper.

"Seriously Grissom, is this a treasure hunt, or an undercover case? We've got cookie crumbs to follow everywhere!" She took the piece of paper in her hand and started to read out loud…

Dear Doctor Grissom and Miss Sidle,

As you may have noticed in your new identity descriptions, your current physical appearances do not match your new identity. We have enclosed in two suitcases, each labeled with your names, all the necessary equipment and products to change into your new appearance. We are sorry for not having it mentioned to you sooner, but time was of the essence. The change in your appearance is crucial in this mission since the suspect may have seen you in the news or in investigations reported on television, and that in this way, the suspect will not recognize you. In this laptop bag, along with the box beside it is all the necessary equipment to create your new ID's with pictures of your new appearance. Well-detailed instructions are enclosed inside the case. We would also like to apologize for not telling you sooner that you would be impersonating a married couple. Again, we could like to thank you for understanding the situation.

FBI

Sara looked up at Grissom from the paper she was holding. "I guess we better get down to business with this changing of appearance thing…" Sara looked at him to see his reaction.

"I suppose, although I am not quite fond of shaving my beard… hair can be dyed again, but hair takes time to grow again."

"Cheer up Grissom, at least you're not becoming a blond haired dentist who loves bugs, now THAT would be funny sight to see…" she laughed.

"You do have a point there…"

"Do you need help with dying your hair Griss?

"No I should be fine, you?"

"Same." She looked around and saw two doors. "Well, now that's convenient, at least the had the courtesy to have two separate washrooms for us to change our appearance in."

Grissom grabbed his suitcase and headed for the small washroom on the right, while Sara grabbed her suitcase and headed into the one on the left.

1 hour and a half later...

Grissom emerged from the small cubicle of a washroom, clean-shaven and with much, much darker hair. The label on the box said his hair would turn out a medium to dark brown, but because he left the dye in 5 minutes too long, it almost looked like a brown bordering on black. He didn't mind it too much, but he stood there for 10 minutes looking in the mirror trying to absorb in his new appearance, marveled at the fact that he looked very different beardless and with much darker hair. Heck, he even thought that he looked a few years younger. He made his way to the back where the laptop had been, only to find it missing. He made his way towards the front where he found someone in a seat facing away from him, and that person could only be none other than Sara. He was scared of how she'd react to his new look, but what raised his pulse was the anticipation of surprise of what she looked like with blonde hair and glasses. He quietly walked over to the seat and sat in the one next to it, slowly turning towards her. She was concentrating on the laptop that lay on her lap, trying to figure out their new ID's. She looked up from the screen and looked at him, and was taken by surprise. He looked almost a decade younger.

"Wow. Never saw you as the dark haired type, but it sure suits you. Not to mention the new attire." Sara smiled and winked at him. Grissom sat there speechless, which worried Sara and got her thinking for the worst.

"Grissom say something."

"…I hadn't lied when I had once said that I hadn't been interested in beauty until I met you. You always seem to manage to surprise me." Sara's jaw remained open, simply speechless at his compliments, and starting to blush.

"Um…" Sara didn't know what to say. "Um, thanks. It seems like you never cease to surprise me either…" This time it was his turn to blush.

The sound of the intercom broke their blush-filled silence. "This is your captain speaking, we shall be arriving in Honolulu in about an hour or so. I suggest you look over your file details, to get familiar with them before we arrive. I will update you when we start our descent."

Grissom looked over at the glasses-wearing Sara that was also wearing a pink summer dress. She was staring at the laptop screen. "I don't get this! Their instructions don't make any sense at all…"

"How about this setting?" Grissom pointed to a button on the screen menu of the program.

"You have got to be kidding me! I've been looking for that for the past 10 minutes! Thanks."

"You're welcome. So we just take our pictures, load them in, and print out the new ID's?" he asked her.

"Yes, that's right."

"Let's get this over with…" Grissom said as he grabbed the camera lying on the table.

"Besides, we still got the case file to go through before we land. Let's just hope they didn't leave out any more big surprises in store for us…"

"Let's hope not…"

45 minutes later...

Both Sara and Grissom were reading the details that were basically the same things they had heard in Ecklie's office.

"This seems like all the same stuff they talked to us about before, and most of it is common sense about blowing your cover: Do not use the wrong name and rather the new identity name, yada yada yada…"

"You're right. I'm very glad that there weren't any more surprises in store for us."

"Amen to that." Sara looked at a list that was at the end of the file. "Hey, here's a checklist of all the things we should have…" she continued reading. "I think we're good, do you have your ring… Jeff?" Grissom turn around quickly.

"Hey, you need to get used to your new name, otherwise, you'll blow our cover before we get to our hotel." She smiled at him.

"Fine. It just feels like we're in some kind of strange soap opera led by the FBI…"

"Well, there's another 2 weeks of this, so get used to it."

The intercom went on again.

"Hello again, this is your captain speaking. We will be arriving in Honolulu in approximately 15 minutes. We are starting our descent, so if you could please return to your seats and put your seatbelts on it would be great. Feel free to look outside, there's not much to see, but you will see in the distance the Hawaiian Islands. Enjoy."

"I never thought about looking outside…" Sara admitted as she quickly took a peek out by the plane window. "You don't see too much though…"

As Sara was leaning against the window to look outside, Grissom took the time to take in Sara's appearance. He couldn't remember any time where he ever saw her in a dress, never mind a pink summer one. And with her shoulder length blonde hair and the sophisticated glasses, she looked like the cross between a model and the scientist that she truly was at heart. "What more could a guy want?" thought Grissom. It was quite common to find either brains or beauty, but to find both those traits in the same woman, well that was like winning the lottery, a chance in a million Grissom thought. Grissom snapped out of his reverie again.

"You okay Grissom?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just stuck in my thoughts again, that's all." Why is Grissom always daydreaming lately? Sara thought to herself. What can he be thinking so hard about?

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess we better sit down and strap ourselves down before we get scolded for walking around when he told us to sit."

"I suppose…"

Just as they sat down, the place hit a bit of turbulence and the intercom went on again.

"Sorry about that, we hit a bit of turbulence. We should be arriving in a few minutes time."

A few minutes later...

The plane started its descent and softly hit the pavement below on the airstrip.

"Your captain speaking again, sit tight and I'll let you know when you can take off your seat belts."

The plane started slowing down, and slowly made its way around the tarmac towards a small hanger, and came to a complete stop.

"Ok, you can now take off your seatbelts and gather your belongings. I'll be out of the cockpit shortly to give you a hand with your luggage."

Grissom and Sara unbuckled their seatbelts and went towards the back of the plane to gather their luggage, and then made their way towards the front of the plane. Just then, Andrew came out of the cockpit to greet them.

"My goodness, what have you two done with Doctor Grissom and Miss Sidle?" he gave a quick chuckle. Grissom and Sara looked at each other and then back at Andrew.

"My compliments to you, I barely recognize you." He grabbed one of the suitcases in front of him. "Shall we?" Andrew asked them.

"Sure, are you ready Sara?" She gave Grissom a frown.

"What?" What did he do wrong this time?

"Yes I'm ready to go… Jeff."

"Oh, sorry about that… Amber."

"That's better." She gave him a big grin in return as they got out of the plane.

As soon as they got off the plane, a man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and bright surf shorts was seen walking towards them, his badge attached to the front pocket of his shirt.

"Good afternoon, I'm Scott Montag, FBI. I'll be your chauffeur to your resort." He walked over to Grissom to shake hands, and then shake hands with Sara. "It's great to finally meet you two. I've heard great things of your work. Let's put your belongings in my SUV, since I'm sure you want to get to your hotel as soon as you can to start unpacking. Am I right?" Both Sara and Grissom nodded in agreement. They put the luggage in the back of the SUV and hopped in, heading for their resort.

"Let me assure you, if it hasn't been mentioned to you earlier, that I, along with my team, will be stationed throughout your resort and monitoring 24/7, everywhere but directly inside your room. You will be in good hands, so try to not worry too much, and enjoy your stay here." He gave them each a warm smile. "But as much as me and my team are doing our work, it is important that you too do your job, that is impersonating a newly-wed couple on their honeymoon." Grissom glanced at Sara that was sitting in the first row of seats, and they both understood when their eyes met: they had to play along, or they wouldn't hear the end of it, or even worst, they could lose their only chance to catch a killer.

* * *

Once the SUV left the airport, the beautiful Hawaiian scenery started to encompass them. The tall palm trees and plant life along the freeway came as a bit of a shock to Grissom and Sara, as they were used to sand and tumbleweeds rather than lush green plants covering the ground. As the freeway started to border the beach, tall buildings that could be none other than all inclusive resorts started to appear. Montag put his turn signal and turned towards three very tall buildings and parked in front of the biggest of the three.

"Welcome to paradise." Montag said as he took his FBI badge from his front pocket and put it in his shorts pocket.

Sara and Grissom both got out of the SUV and didn't say a word. The scene that lay in front of them was breath taking, almost like seeing a mirage in the middle of the Nevada desert. There, in front of them, were three high rises angled towards each other in a triangular shape with the outstretched beach that could be seen behind the buildings. In the middle of the high rises were three large pools, a children's pool, an adult's swimming pool, and the third, a swim up bar with cliché straw covered huts only seen in the tropical areas. Along these pools were endless loungers with people sunbathing, and tall palm trees towered above the pools. Gorgeous gardens with flowers were seen between the pools and the high rises. All Sara could think about is the countless hours she could spend sunbathing or swimming, while Grissom was wondering what kind of insects were crawling in those gardens, after all, he did pack a few specimen jars in his suitcase…

"Earth to Mr. and Mrs. Lyndsley."

Grissom and Sara were shook out of their reveries and turned towards Montag who stood there grinning.

"There. I finally got your attention." He gave a small laugh. "You guys definitely need to take more vacations." He laughed again. "This is as far as I'm taking you for now. Feel free to look around and enjoy the stay. If you run into any problems, you can reach me on this." he handed them a cell phone and charger. "My number is registered under "Justin Mackenzie". Grissom took the cell phone and cord in his hand and put it in his pocket. "Feel free to call me anytime if you have any questions, but make sure you are out of earshot if you talk about details." Grissom and Sara nodded.

"Alright, head to the front desk to get your room key and you're all set! Oh, and welcome to the Shorecrest Oceanview Aloha Resort. Wow, that one's a mouthful." He gave a small chuckle again. "I know I'll be enjoying the stay, even if I am working." He gave them a small grin. He outstretched his hand and shook Grissom and Sara's hands. "Enjoy." Was his last word before he turned around on his heels and got inside his SUV to go park it.

Grissom looked over at Sara "Well, let's head to the front desk to find out where our room is and put away all this luggage." He looked down at his feet where lay the many suitcases. Sara nodded.

"Well Jeff, shall we find what kind of room they gave us?" she added with a smirk

"Of course…. Amber." He added with a smile that was rarely seen, surprised at the fact that the tropics gave him an extra sense of courage he didn't usually have in Vegas. She returned the smile and went to grab her pieces of luggage. Out of nowhere, Grissom leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, making Sara blush like crazy, and quickly grabbed some of his luggage in one hand.

"Wow he sure is surprising me in the first day of our trip!" was all Sara could think to herself. "…maybe this trip won't be that bad after all!" she said to herself again, not realizing she was grinning more than she usually did. He smiled, turned around grabbed the rest of his luggage, as did she, and they both walked towards the main building where the office was, oblivious to a figure on his balcony eyeing them with binoculars as they walked into the building.

* * *

Grissom and Sara walked through the main doors towards the front desk, to find a hyper overfriendly desk worker that had a nametag with the name "Philippe" spelled out in bright colors.

"How may I help you folks?" the young man looked like he might be part of a teenage cheering squad because of his overly cheery behavior.

"We're here to check into our room." Gil chirped up. "Reservations should be under Jeff and Amber Lyndsley." Grissom added, surprised at his acting skills.

"Just one second sir while I check…" Philippe added, sticking his tongue out as he was concentrating on the computer screen in front of him.

"Here it is, ohh… you are in tower number 2, room 1708. Very popular room for honeymooners such as yourselves!" He looked like an overexcited puppy surrounded in dog treats. He handed Grissom their two room card keys. "And may I ask if you need assistance with your luggage?" Philippe asked with a wide smile showing his very white teeth. Grissom looked over to Sara "Do we… Honey?"

Sara shook her head and replied with an added wink. "We should be fine, won't we?"

Grissom a bit hot under the collar turned towards Philippe. "Thank you, but we won't need any assistance with our luggage, thank you very much."

"No problem sir and ma'am. Enjoy your stay!" he had that big smile plastered on his face again. Grissom and Sara walked out of lobby towards tower #2. Sara turned to Grissom "Correct me if I'm wrong to say this, but that "Philippe" guy was creeping me out!" She continued to look at him as they were walking.

"You thought so? I thought he was simply doing his job." Grissom admitted in a as-a-matter-of-a-fact kind of way.

"You cannot be serious, that guy looked like he drank too many energy drinks or something! That kind of behavior is not normal!" Sara exclaimed. She dared to look at Grissom again, and he was smiling. "Now what's so funny?" she was puzzled at his smile. He chuckled a little, something that Sara loved to hear as she put it away in her memory for later. Now what did he think was so funny?

"You." He answered plainly.

"What?" Sara was getting a bit angry.

"Sa… Amber.." he corrected himself. "We're on vacation, I was merely making a small joke." He answered plainly.

"But… but…" Sara muttered.

"I don't know if you left Vegas behind, but I know I did. I haven't taken a well deserved vacation out of the State in over 8 years that was wasn't work related, and when I do take my rare vacations, I separate work from leisure very well." He added with a smile. "Wow, aren't you full of surprises…" Sara admitted.

"It's only the beginning." He added winking at her and turning around to get to their room before she could say anything. Even if she would have wanted to say anything, Sara had surprised written all over her face, frozen in place, before grabbing her piece of luggage to catch up to him as he continued to walk.

* * *

They both got into the elevator and got out their designated floor and started walking down the hallway in search of their room.

"Here it is, 1708." He got out one of the key cards. "Here goes nothing."

Grissom opened up the door and slowly walked in, Sara followed him at his heels. They both stood just in the doorway, surprised at the room. The room was gorgeous: in front of them, the living room had a couch in front of a large flat panel big screen tv, and to their left was the kitchenette that was open to the living room and had what seemed to be very expensive appliances. They walked side by side to their right to find a room bigger than the living room and kitchen combined, and there stood a king size bed against the far right wall and a door leading to a washroom. In front of them on the other side of the bed was a private patio door leading to a large balcony. They both stepped forward, walking onto the balcony.

"Am I dreaming?" Sara asked, looking at the view of the ocean and the sandy beach with a sun starting to set over the horizon.

"I'm afraid not." Grissom replied looking at the gorgeous sunset. They stood there in silence until the sun was almost ready to completely set.

"Sometimes I wonder why I never took vacations more often…" Sara said to herself. "You're right, the deserts of Las Vegas seem so mundane and hectic compared to the tranquil tropics." He replied.

"The view is beautiful out here though, we'll have to thank our FBI buddies for the suite." She added with a little laugh.

"I agree with you on that, the view is beautiful out here…" He said so, as he turned to look at her, when she turned and looked at him. She was beautiful, even in her change of appearance, her normally brown hair, now blonde was wavering in the light evening breeze. He never thought of seeing her as a blonde, seeing that he was already used to a certain blonde trying to run his lab, but it seemed to suit her, especially in the tropics. Then, again to his surprise, he liked seeing Sara with dark rimmed glasses covering her deep brown eyes contoured with eyeliner. "She had time to put makeup in the plane?" he wondered. Even though her glasses were non-prescription, they suited her very well, as they made her great intelligence more apparent, making her look like the sophisticated scientist she really was, and the dress… well as any red-blooded American boy could see, Grissom noticed how well flowy dresses could suit her, the flower patterns dancing in the breeze. Hearing Grissom's comment, Sara stood there looking at him with a look in her eyes he rarely saw, flirting ones.

"Well, if that's your way of telling me I look pretty, thank you." She broke off the eye contact, taking a few steps towards the inside of their suite only to turn around again towards him again. "And… may I add you don't look too bad yourself…" she turned around, this time being the one to leave Grissom speechless on the balcony looking at his own attire; a Hawaiian theme shirt with dark board-shorts and flip-flops.

* * *

Sara entered the room with a grin. She enjoyed the fact that she was one of the very few people that could actually leave Grissom speechless. She made her way to her luggage that was now on the luggage rack in the bedroom. She opened up the combination lock and reached inside to grab something, just then Grissom entered from the balcony.

"You have got to be kidding me Sara, Nonoxyl-09 and a UV light? We're not at a crime scene!" he laughed. "We're on vacation! Granted one with the FBI, but still a vacation. You didn't leave the crime lab behind for the vacation did you? Don't you ever enjoy a vacation or time off like any other naïve tourist out here?" he was more serious and sounded sad at the end of his long declaration.

"This coming from you?" she sounded angry. "I do enjoy vacations, I just don't want to end up sleeping in someone else's… biological substances. I take this stuff whenever I stay at hotels…" she still sounded angry.

"I'm sorry Sara, I guess I over-reacted. Like I said previously, I like to separate my work self from my personal life. That's why I don't carry a UV light or chemicals with me everywhere I go. I've come to believe that science can be a both a blessing and a curse at the same time." He continued.

"How so?" Sara was intrigued by this new side of Grissom she never saw before.

"Well, for instance, science can be a blessing in the work we do, catching criminals, but it is also a curse since, when we become scientists, it seems like it also defines us as individuals. I simply prefer to, as they say, take the unknown side of life while off duty, that's why I race cockroaches and ride roller coasters on my time off, takes my mind off of work and takes away the stress. We all need some sort of an outlet, otherwise we self-destruct sooner or later." He stopped himself, thinking that he may have revealed too much about himself. Sara couldn't believe her ears… did Grissom just say that he wasn't a scientist off duty?

"Oh, I never would have seen you as the type to de-stress when off duty… it always seemed as though you live at the lab, all the OT you put in a month is as much as mine…"

"Guilty as charged." Grissom smiled. "But as I said, on duty is one thing, off duty is another." He looked away from her to grab his suitcase and open it up, and started putting his clothes into the dressers.

"So… that's it?" Sara was confused. This whole day seemed like a caffeine and junk food induced dream.

"What is it?" Grissom seemed a little confused as he continued to put his clothes into the dresser.

"Well... you seem like such a private person, and now, we're off on this wild goose chase in the middle of the tropical pacific and you open up like this? Not to mention you seemed pretty comfortable with this…" She showed him her left hand adorned with a fake wedding band. "I want answers Grissom, you are probably the most confusing man I know!" she was looking at him in a way that proved what she said was true.

"Sara…" Grissom didn't know what to say. After Nick was kidnapped not too long ago, he came to realize that life was too short, and he took it as his new year's resolution to open up more to the people he knew so well and worked with, starting with Sara. He had pushed her away for so long, and he deeply regretted objecting to her dinner invitation many moons ago. He came to realize also that he was tired of being the lonely entomologist people knew him as. He saw his other co-workers with their lives involving the human variety outside the lab, Catherine had Lindsay, Nick and Warrick were always going out for drinks at the local bar trying to get ladies' numbers, even the lab techs managed to have significant others. The only one who seemed to stand out like a sore thumb were Sara and himself. He had pushed her away for so long, thinking that she could find someone much better than himself to date, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought he was trying to convince himself that she was waiting for him, but that he had to make the first move in order to see where their relationship would go.

"Grissom!" Sara said louder. Grissom was lost in his reverie until he heard Sara yelling his name.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts." Grissom admitted.

"Well I guess I was tricking myself for thinking that the change in you was all positive, some things never change…" she walked away towards the bathroom with a pile of clothes under her arm, and closed the door. Grissom soon heard the water running.

"Dammit! I've done it again! I'm not pushing her away on purpose this time! Do something about it!" His mind screamed at him. Then he got an idea…

* * *

Sara walked out of the shower in fresh clothes and a towel wrapped around her hair to dry it off and to keep it from dripping everywhere. She looked around the bedroom to find it empty, and dried off her hair. All she could think about was how every time Grissom seemed to open up to her, he'd sooner than later remain speechless or only say her name in a sad tone of voice when she would confront him with it. "Maybe I've been too hard on him… he did admit many things since we've arrived here, and seemed to be flirting with me…" her mind ventured to when they had arrived and he had kissed her cheek, boy was she rendered speechless after that! And yet again, more beauty comments… She almost felt bad at her earlier outburst at him when he seemed to be deep in thought… She shook away the thoughts and walked in search of Grissom in the suite. She looked on the balcony and he wasn't there, he was probably watching some lame Discovery Channel documentary on insects on the big screen in the living room or buried in some crossword puzzle ignoring what happened earlier. Sara walked out of the bedroom area towards the dinette and living room area. What she found surprised her beyond anything: he was fast asleep in a t-shirt and pajama pants on the couch. And there was something on the kitchenette island counter. There was a small vase of lilies and a note attached to it. "It better not read "From Grissom" or I'm making him sleep on the balcony!"

She reached for the envelope and opened it up. It read:

"Dear Sara,

If you read this, it's because I've probably fallen asleep on the couch already while you were in the shower. I am so sorry about earlier, I find it very difficult to open up to people I care about, especially you. I am trying my very best, but as well as you may know it, I am not the most socially gifted person. I know you demand answers, and with good reason, but please give me time, this is very difficult as it is, not to mention that we were forced into this FBI goose chase in the middle of the pacific, and to top it all off, they make us impersonate a newlywed couple. I will open up to you, but I need time. As they say, "you can teach a dog new tricks, it just takes a little more time". Please give me time and I will let you see me for who I really am, and not the lonely entomologist people may perceive me as everyday.

Will you forgive me?

G.G.

PS I know we may have not discussed the sleeping arrangements, but I have taken the liberty of taking the couch for tonight. You go ahead and take the bedroom.

Sara was again, rendered speechless. This was way better than a "From Grissom" sentiment attached to a plant like he previously did in the past. Sara felt even guiltier for chewing him out and going to take a shower without leaving him the chance to say what he wanted to say. He even let her have the whole King size bed to herself while he was cramped up on the couch in the living room. "He really does care, he just doesn't know how to show it…" Sara thought. "… But at least he's trying…" Sara's heart started to melt as she looked at the lovely flowers he had picked out, and the effort he put into writing that note for her.

"I think he deserves a chance." Sara thought to herself as she smelled the flowers and made her way to the bedroom, she was tired after all, but not before leaving something on the kitchenette island.

* * *

Grissom woke up with a startle in the middle of the night. "What is that noise?" he wondered. He ventured closer to the bedroom to see that is was Sara snoring. "Who would have thought Sara snored?" he laughed quietly. The normally well put Sara was now sleeping on her back, hair ruffled everywhere and snoring like a bear in hibernation. Grissom took a few seconds to admire the relaxed sleeping Sara until his higher brain told him to get out of there before she saw him. He clumsily walked over to the kitchenette to grab some water or juice, he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. He took a water bottle out of the fridge, and noticed that there was something on the kitchenette island beside the flower vase, a note, but not the one he wrote. He grabbed his glasses, sat on one of the kitchen island stools and took the note in hand. It took him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust after waking up, but he began to read…

Dear Gil,

I really appreciate you taking the couch and leaving me the big bed, but we'll have to work out some arrangements, as the couch doesn't look like the most comfortable piece of furniture in this suite, and sleeping a few weeks on a couch can be disastrous for your back, although I'm sure you know that already. Sorry, I'm going off subject… I thank you very much for the flowers, they are wonderful and I appreciate the gesture, it was very nice of you to do so, but I do believe that you were not in the wrong yesterday, but rather I. I over-reacted and acted very childish and I apologize for that. You do deserve another chance and I shot you down while you were attempting to do so. Let it be known to you Gil, that even though I always said it would be too late for you to decide what to do "about this", I never actually meant it, as it is stronger than me to wait for you, even when my logic told me I should have left Vegas a long time ago. I am ready to give you another chance, but only if you plan on taking it along to Vegas, I'm not playing games anymore, this is not just an overture you are doing in the tropics, to then ignore me again in Vegas, my heart cannot take that one more time. The ball is now in your court, it is all up to you. I am willing to listen if you are willing to talk. I'll see you in the morning, and I thank you again for the flowers.

S.S.

PS I apologize if I snored last night, as I have the habit to do so when I am very tired. I hope that I have not kept you awake in any way.

"Well, this is a very cryptic way of letting me know she forgives me…" Grissom smiled. She is willing to give me another chance, now I just have to make sure I do not spoil the whole thing again and drive her away even more, because we're stuck here for at least two weeks…

Grissom walked over to his suitcase and grabbed a folder, the case file on their undercover case, making his way to the couch and coffee table. "It feels as though I'm working two separate cases here, the serial killer, and reaching out to Sara… how am I going to do both simultaneously?" Grissom wondered. "Why did life have to be so complicated?" he repeated over and over in his head.

* * *

Sara woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, a pleasant smell in her world. She got up, and made her way to the kitchenette and living room area. She made her way to the coffee pot supplied by the hotel and poured herself a full cup. Grissom was immersed in the case file when she came and sat beside him on the couch.

"How long have you been up?" she was still worried that her snoring must have kept him up part of the night.

"Early, couldn't sleep too well, so I took advantage of this spare time to look further into our serial killer's profile, as well as what's expected of us to do in our little vacation. We missed this while looking at the file on the flight here." He showed her a small folder. "This explains our daily schedule." Sara ignored the file.

"I was snoring again wasn't I?" Sara knew that it must have been her that kept him up.

"Well… yes you were, but it's no big deal, you were tired and like I said, I took the time to look at the case file in the meantime." Why was she so worried about her snoring…?

"I'm sorry…" Sara admitted.

"Sara, Honey, there's no need to apologize."

"I know, but I can't help it… I close you out on our conversation, and then keep you up all night with my snoring, what's good with that?" Sara had her head hung low as she said so. Grissom couldn't believe Sara was still apologizing to him. Her note on the counter had been enough to convince him.

"Sara…" he started rubbing her back gently, "…you need to relax, you seem so worried all the time…"

Sara understood his words and was surprised he was actually trying to comfort her, something that still took her off guard about the whole "Off Duty Gil" vs. "Gruesome Grissom". She relinquished and appreciated his back rubbing.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just can't help it…" she sounded so sad.

"Well, it's time for a change, you're in Hawaii, at a resort that most civilians would never be able to afford unless they sold an arm or a leg, and you're worried about your snoring keeping me awake?" Grissom said with a small chuckle. "Believe me, your snoring is the least of my worries, we've got a killer to find."

Sara couldn't believe her ears yet again, Grissom seemed like he was… in a happy mood, a joking mood. She couldn't understand it one bit.

Grissom stopped rubbing her back and took his hand to gently grab her chin so that she would be looking at him in the eyes. When Sara dared to look into his eyes, what she saw surprised her, it wasn't the eyes of the Gruesome Grissom or the lonely entomologist that would run around the lab corridors. No, this was the deep blue eyes of a man that was as human as any other man on the street, one that had the look of sincerity and dare she say, soft caring nature. Whoever said that eyes are the doors to the soul were right, because while looking into his eyes, Sara could literally see into Grissom's soul. And as much as she wanted to turn away, she seemed almost hypnotized into looking in them.

Grissom on the other hand, still holding her chin up so she could look at him in the eyes, was trying to look into her eyes to see what drove Sara to be so worried and sad, even while on vacation. He had the sudden urge to simply wrap his arms around her and give her a big bear hug to comfort her, but he stopped himself, fearing that he would overwhelm her with his gestures. The intimate moment was soon broken off by the ringing of a cell phone on the coffee table. Grissom completely ignored the ringing phone, but Sara decided to speak up.

"What is it with us and bad timing?" she said with a weak smile.

"Story of our lives…" Grissom admitted as he reached for the cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Jeff, it's Justin. I'm calling to let you know that we will be on watch today, and will be waiting for the work we have presented you with yesterday in that file. I hope you had time to read through it, and if you have any questions please ask now."

"Well, I do not have any immediate questions, but I do have to inform Sa… Amber on the details, she has just woken up. I'll call you if we have any more questions."

"Very well. Call me anytime." And with that, he hung up before Grissom could say another word.

"So what's our assignment Jeff?" Sara asked. She seemed a little happier after Grissom's comforting.

"Sara we're in our suite, you don't need to call me Jeff all the time…"

"You may think so, but I have noticed that on a few occasions such as now, you have almost blown our cover by calling me by my real name…" Was Sara flirting again? Grissom thought.

"Alright, you are right again… point taken. Amber."

"Now that's better."

"It just feels very strange to call you by such a name…"

"It's not a bad name, could have been much worst…"

"Again, you're right."

"Wow, two times in one conversation, that must be a record for you telling me I'm right!" Sara laughed at this while Grissom stayed quiet. "You still haven't answered my question, what's today's mission?" Making her best 007 impression.

"Well, let me tell you that no explosions are involved. Today's mission consists of:

One, heading down to the restaurant and having lunch as a couple, Two, shopping for a few hours at the outdoor mall attached to the resort main building, Three, going out to dinner at the resort's finest restaurant and Four, heading back to our suite to rest." Grissom listed in his version of a 007 mission.

"How boring…" Sara laughed. "This undercover business is overrated on so many levels."

Grissom shrugged. "But we do have to talk about one thing though…"

"Which is.." Sara was almost scared at his tone of voice.

"The newlywed couple aspect of this undercover work. How do we handle it? I wasn't too sure what to do yesterday… It's not like I've been in a long term relationship in these two past decades, not to mention that the only proposal I ever got was from a girl in my class in elementary school…" Uh oh, overtaking again, Grissom thought.

Sara started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You had a proposal in elementary? That is adorable in a Grissom-esque way…" she was smiling again. Maybe Grissom did brighten her up, whether he meant it or not.

"Well I'm glad you find it funny, now may we move on? You didn't answer my question… how do we do this… "couple stuff" in public? Our killer won't buy it if we're acting as co-workers or friends, and the FBI, as much as I hate to deal with them, are counting on us to fool this serial killer…"

"Well, in my opinion you weren't doing too bad yourself yesterday. What urged you to kiss me anyways…?" she added with a grin. She loved to torture him…

"Um, well…"

"Well well, the speechless Grissom resurfaces again." Sara was smiling again, but this time she was surprised soon after. Again.

"… If you want to put it in that way, to be honest, I'm not too sure what came over me to do so, I can't explain it because I do not understand it myself… I know it's you, but, you look so different with the makeover…" Grissom didn't know where he was going with this…

"The new look? I never saw myself as the blonde type either, that's Catherine's department, and the glasses are a bit of an adjustment…" She wanted to let him talk rather than closing him out and accusing him that he kissed her because she looked different than her usual self.

"I don't know, everything just seems very surreal ever since we stepped off that plane, that including both our makeovers. I surely would have appreciated it if they would have told us a bit of what we were getting into before we signed up…" Grissom did have a point.

"You're right, we were flying quite blindly into all of this, but we got ourselves into it, now we have to finish this case like any other one, minus the odd conditions of it all…" Sara admitted. "Surprisingly, I'm actually warming up to this new look…" she added, although it sounded more like she was commenting to herself than him.

"I can't argue either."

Sara turned to look at Grissom once again. "Why does he always have to be so cryptic with his beauty comments instead of just saying it as it is?" she wondered, flattered by it at the same time. Grissom saw the question lingering in her eyes, her eyes pressing for more details of his earlier statement.

"I meant that you do look pretty with blonde hair. Why are you looking at me that way?" He was confused.

There he actually said it, and she heard it loud and clear.

"And…" What more does she want to know? Grissom wondered. He thought for a few seconds, pondering over his best answer.

"And… I approve on the new makeover. I like it. There, what more do you want from me?" Grissom was confused.

"It's not so hard is it now?" Grissom was looking at her again, confused.

"What are you getting to Sara?"

"Talking. See, you're opening up to me and you're doing a great job. You're voicing your feelings and opinions, some of which I've waited a long time to hear." Grissom's confused looks were slowly dissipating.

"Um…" Grissom didn't know what to say.

"It's okay, after I read your note yesterday, it made me think…" she slowly got closer to him and whispered huskily in his ear "… and I'm starting to like this new side of you." In a flash she got up and walked a few steps. "I'm off to get ready. We have a mission to accomplish today, don't we?" she quickly winked at him not waiting to see his reaction. Grissom sat on the couch, once again, speechless. Why was the woman driving him speechless so much he wondered? He thought for a few seconds… "No that can't be it…? … can it? Maybe this is what people classify as "love-struck"…" The thought worried him more than anything, but his heart told him the opposite.

* * *

While Sara was taking her shower, all she could think about was where she had gotten the courage to do all she did since they got here, and how Grissom had reacted to it. She got out of the shower and stared at her towel-clad twin in the mirror. "The team would sure get a kick out of seeing me as a blonde right now…" she giggled lightly. But her thoughts kept going back at the fact that Grissom had admitted to her that he liked her new look… never in her right mind did she think he would admit it to her verbally. She dried off her hair, applied her make-up and put on her fake glasses. "Jeff, ready or not, here I come." She said to herself, looking in the mirror at her reflection clad in a summer dress that suited her well. And for a second, she thought she saw her refection wink at her in encouragement before she left the bathroom.

* * *

Meanwhile, Grissom sat on the couch, still pondering what his next move should be. He always thought that it was only an infatuation he had for Sara all these years, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought how wrong he had been, maybe he was love struck like his heart was telling him… or should he listen to his logic and not get involved with a co-worker, especially a subordinate? His logic seemed to have always won in the past, but as much as the crime lab supervisor part of himself wanted control, the more his heart seemed to be winning, which scared the hell out of him, since, this had never happened before Sara arrived into his life picture.

"To be or not to be, that is the real question…" he thought to himself. To be the lonely entomologist people perceived him as, or his off duty self that had fallen for Sara? The latter seemed like the logical choice after his heart beat his logic. This reminded him of his last conversation he had with his mother at Christmas-time. Even though his mother didn't speak due to her deafness, her hand movements had made the message very clear to him…

Christmas-time the previous year:

"Gil dear, you know, are not getting any younger, when are you going to start living your life to the fullest? Those bugs of yours are helping you fight crime, but they won't find you a wife…" Grissom knew she was right, she was always right.

"Mom… not many women find it very endearing to know that their significant other is working during the night chasing criminals and picking insects off of dead bodies as a living."

His mother smiled. "At least one does…"

"Mom!" Grissom hated it when she did so. She made him feel like he was 16 again.

"It's true, she deals with the same gruesome things you deal with on a daily basis, and from what you say of her, she seems like a lovely dear that would make you happy." She smiled at him.

Grissom huffed out a long breath he was holding.

"Gil dear, so what if she works for you? I'm sure there are ways around it… Besides, I can see your face glow with happiness each time you speak of her…" she winked at her son. "You deserve to be happy dear, especially with all the people you help everyday."

He knew she was right, again.

"It's complicated mom…"

"Life's not complicated honey, people make it complicated."

Grissom slumped down on the couch that was facing his mother.

"I've never been good at this sort of thing…"

"You never know until you try dear…" she walked over to him and gave him a hug. "I have to go prepare dinner before uncle Herb arrives. You know how hungry he gets during the holidays…" she smiled at him.

"I think the whole neighborhood knows..." Grissom smiled back at his mother.

She started walking towards the kitchen, but she briefly turned to her son again. "Gil, don't forget what I told you, you deserve to have a happy life too… Besides, I want a chance at having grandchildren…" she quickly gave him a wide grin and walked towards the kitchen before he could react.

Fast forward to present:

Grissom was lost deep in his memories and suddenly realized that someone was talking to him.

"Grissom!" Uh oh, she sounded angry.

"Um, sorry… yes Sara?

"I SAID, are you going to get ready and take a shower, or are you going to go to the beach and find a killer in PJ pants and a t-shirt?" He looked down at what he was wearing. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed, which was close to the truth.

"Um, yes, I'll go take a shower and get ready…" he slowly got up from the couch, a bit cramped since he had been sitting there the whole time.

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you thinking so hard about?" He had literally looked like a zombie on that couch.

"The last conversation I had with my mother at Christmas-time…" He started to make his way to the bathroom, but Sara blocked the way.

"Should I be freaked out that you thinking of your mother made you grin like an idiot?" she smiled.

Without thinking Grissom replied. "I was smiling like an idiot?"

"Very much so." Man, she loved to torture him. He let out a long breath.

"It's not my mother, but rather our conversation matter." He didn't want to press any more details.

"Which was…?" Sara wasn't budging from her footing.

Should he or shouldn't he tell her? He wondered. Maybe he could be vague…

"Okay, my mother…" How should he say this without telling her too much? Sara was looking him in the eyes, pressing for an answer.

"… she told me I should get my head out of my career and find a special someone in my personal life…" He was scared of her reaction, so he turned away for a second. Sara was surprised that he didn't push her aside to lock himself in the bathroom to avoid the question.

"There's something else, isn't there...?" He was hiding something from her since he was avoiding her gaze. Sara wanted to know. She put her hand on his shoulder, feeling that it was quite warmer than she thought it would be. Grissom slowly raised his head to meet her eyes and deeply looked into them, he couldn't lie to them.

"Well, here's the thing… my mother, well, she likes to almost meddle with my life sometimes…" he was stalling, but Sara waited for him to continue, her hand feeling strangely very warm on his shoulder and relishing the warm feeling creeping up on her hand.

"… she… well, she always kept telling me that I should ask this certain person out to dinner for numerous reasons…too many to name…" All Sara could do was stare into his eyes even more, lost in those icy blue seas that were consuming her.

"… she told me…" Grissom was stalling again.

Sara continued to be consumed in his mesmerizing eyes.

"She… told me, that I should have asked YOU out to dinner a long time ago!" Grissom closed his eyes for fear of her reaction. He was surprised that she didn't go running off into the adjoining room, running away from him for good. Instead, she put her other hand on his other shoulder. He dared to slowly open his eyes and look at her.

"And are you going to go through with her wishes?" she asked him plainly.

"Um… I thought that I'd one day give it a try when my courage allowed it…"

He was so cute when he was flustered, Sara thought.

"And, when will that time be…?" She wanted to know.

Grissom didn't believe what he was about to do…

"How about… now!" and before she had time to answer, his lips were on hers, and somehow her hands that were on his shoulders were now wrapped around his neck. They kissed briefly, and he slowly backed away from her, breaking the kiss, brushing a stray blonde strand of hair from her face. This time, it was Sara's turn to be utterly speechless. He started to be scared when she didn't say anything after he had kissed her.

"Um, say something, you're scaring the hell out of me…" Grissom had worry written all over his face.

"No time for words." And with that, it was her turn to initiate the kiss that took him off guard. He always dreamed of this moment for ages, but never thought it would happen this way in a million years, it felt so good to finally have her in his arms.

Faintly in the background a phone could be heard ringing, but none noticed. When they both had to come up for air, Sara was the first to speak.

"Well, Gruesome-Grissom turns into Sweet-loving-Gil…" she had a smile plastered on her face, her hair mussed up and her fake glasses lay crooked on her nose. She looked adorable, Grissom thought.

When Sara looked at Grissom, he was grinning again like an idiot.

"You know, I'm not starting to like this new Gil, but rather start loving him…" she hadn't noticed until after she said it that the "L word" had slipped out.

"Ditto." Was his only comment as he leaned in for another kiss, but just as their lips were about to touch yet again, the ringing phone could be heard again in the background.

Sara quickly pecked his lips and replied "Maybe you should get that in case it's our FBI buddies and they're wondering what we're doing still in our room…" she grinned again.

"I suppose you're right…" he pouted. "Grissom pouted?" Sara thought laughing mentally.

"Ah, don't pout Jeff, we're here for at least two weeks…" her smile made him grin.

"Alright, you win. I'll go answer that darn cell phone…" he located it on the coffee table and but the sound of the ringing wasn't emanating from it. He followed the sound to the nearby kitchen counter where the suite telephone lay.

He answered it.

"Hello?"

But nobody answered on the opposite end.

* * *

"So, what do our FBI buddies want?" Sara came out of the bedroom after fixing her hair and makeup.

"Strange thing Sara, it was the room phone not the cell phone ringing." Grissom was still holding the phone in his hand.

"And who was it?" Sara was intrigued.

"Nobody, the line was dead."

"Do you think that it could be…"

"The killer. I suppose. But for all we know, it could have been some wrong number. We still have to keep watch, although I wouldn't worry too much about it." Grissom wasn't sure if it was the killer, but they couldn't let their guard down either.

"We've only been here for one day. I guess we have to let our FBI buddies know about this…" Even though her words seemed cool and collected, Grissom still noticed that she looked very stressed about it.

"Sara, don't worry, the FBI is posted everywhere around the resort." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her small frame. She stiffened a bit, but relaxed soon after and hugged him back.

"I'm just worried…" Sara muttered in his shoulder. Grissom rubbed her back.

"I'm here for you Sara, we're in this investigation together."

* * *

Grissom and Sara made their way to the elevator to go eat a well-deserved lunch. Grissom turned to Sara as the doors closed.

"You ok?" he asked her as a put his hand reassuringly on the small of her back.

"I'm fine." She smiled and quickly gave him a kiss on his cheek as the elevator doors opened up to the main floor.

"Let's go get some lunch, Amber." As he let her go out the elevator before him, never letting go of the small of her back.

"I get to pick which restaurant." Sara smiled back at him only to get an eye roll and a grin as an answer.

* * *

"How about The Tiki Hut?" Sara asked as she pointed to a ritzy restaurant located in the lush gardens of the resort.

"Sounds expensive…" He replied as Sara raised her eyebrows. "But… since we have Mastercard and Visa with us…" he didn't finish his sentence before Sara started grinning.

"I guess that's a yes?"

"Sure. Why not?" Grissom took Sara's hand and led the way, as much as it was new to him, he felt genuinely happy for once in his life.

As they walked inside the restaurant, they sat down and waited to be seated to their table.

Just as Sara turned to say something to Grissom a familiar voice started talking behind them.

"And how may I help you folks?" Sara turned towards the voice and her jaw dropped.

"You have got to be kidding me…" she whispered in Grissom's ear.

"Be nice and behave." He whispered back in her ear.

"We would like a table for two for lunch please." Grissom answered Philippe who looked as cheery as he did the previous day.

"Right this way please, follow me." With a spring in his step, Philippe led the way through the busy restaurant.

"I'm not promising anything… The guy creeps me out." Sara whispered in Grissom's ear with a mischievous smile on her face.

"I mean it." Grissom gave her a stern look which then broke out into a grin.

"Fine…" Sara smiled at him as they reached their table.

"Here is your table and here are your menus." Philippe put two menus on the table. "Is there anything I could start you with? Something to drink?"

Sara and Grissom sat down at their small two-chair table and took their menus in hand.

"I'll have an iced tea please." Sara looked up from her menu as she gave her order to Philippe.

"And you sir?" Philippe was smiling from ear to ear.

"I'll have the same."

"Alright folks, I'll be right back with your drinks." And he disappeared in the busy restaurant. Sara opened up her menu and looked at their vegetarian choices.

"Wow, their vegetarian menu is beyond what I expected."

"We are in Hawaii after all…" He gave her a wink.

Just then Philippe came back with their iced teas.

"Wow, that was fast." Sara gave Grissom a sideward glance.

"Here you go folks." Philippe handed them each of their drinks. "And what will you be having for lunch?"

"I'll have the oriental salad." Sara told Philippe as Grissom was still reading his menu. "Honey, what do you want?"

"I'll have the chicken caesar salad with garlic bread." Grissom told Philippe.

"Very good choices, your lunch should be ready in about ten minutes." And again, in a flash, Philippe disappeared.

"Salad? What happened to your meat and potatoes kind of meal?" Sara asked quizzically.

"Honey, I've been trying to eat better lately, and I know for a fact I'll be eating too much in the next two weeks… but I'm no vegetarian." Grissom added with a laugh.

"Too bad you aren't…" Sara teased.

"Chicken caesar salad is the closest you're going to get to a vegetarian in me sweetheart." Sara looked in Grissom's eyes, surprised at the use of "sweetheart" in his sentence. Seeing this off-duty Grissom was nothing like she's ever imagined, and she absolutely loved this new side of him, even if it took her off guard sometimes. He seemed so confident and flirty… wait, was this their first official date?

"Amber." Was someone talking to her?

"Honey are you ok? You're daydreaming and smiling at the same time…" Grissom was intrigued by her behavior.

"Oh, sorry, just thinking." She was still smiling.

"… about?" Sara got up from her seat and leaned dangerously close to his face.

"… that this is our first official dinner date. I've waited a long time for this…" she whispered in his ear before sitting down again.

Grissom started blushing, and he no longer had his beard to hide it. Sara smiled, she couldn't believe the effect she was having on this man. He looked so cute she thought, his new hair, no beard and blushing like a teenage boy on a first date.

"Oh, look who's blushing…" Philippe exclaimed, bringing their two plates of salad.

Grissom turned towards Philippe, still blushing.

"Oh, leave my poor man alone…" Sara half laughed as she looked up at Philippe who was putting their salads on the table. Grissom turned to look at Sara who was still grinning. He was surprised that she referred to her as her man… oh no, he was blushing again.

"Looks like you're got yourself a blushing one…" Philippe added as he disappeared for the third time into the crowded restaurant.

Sara started laughing.

"So, was the beard a way to hide your constant blushing? Since when do you blush anyways?"

Grissom started blushing even more.

"You know, you are so cute when you blush…" Sara gave him one of her best Sidle Smiles.

"Cute stays in Hawaii, Greg would never let me hear the end of it…" Grissom gave her a warning look.

"Ah come on Honey… it would be funny." She loved to torture him in this way. "A certain office director would definitely get a laugh out of that one." She laughed as she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss as he pouted. "Cheer up. We still have some shopping to do and dinner reservations tonight if I remember correctly."

"Shopping… any man's nightmare…" Grissom pouted again. Sara leaned very close to him again.

"I wouldn't say that honey… they gave us a few platinum credit cards…" and she sat down again to take a bite out of her salad. Grissom started blushing again.

"Seriously, you have got to stop blushing so much…" she gave him a wide smile.

"I can't help it…"

"Greg would definitely get a kick out of a blushing, beardless you..." She laughed.

"Oh just watch out honey… Cath now has you as a rival…" he gave her a mischievous smile while looking at her hair.

Sara pouted. "Point taken. What happens in Hawaii, stays in Hawaii." She smiled back at him.

"Now that that's settled, let's eat, because I still have to bring you on your shopping spree…" he winked at her and started to dig into his salad.

"Deal." And she continued to eat her salad.

* * *

"So what exactly are we shopping for…?" Grissom looked at Sara while they were walking together along an outdoor shopping mall.

"Does it really matter?" she smiled. "It's a vacation, there's no need to be looking for anything in particular…" she laughed a little bit.

"Ok, you win..." he laughed.

"I always do." Sara winked back him.

"Is that right? Well, I say we go shopping at that store." He pointed at a small gift boutique. "Just tell me we don't have to buy souvenirs for everybody…"

"Ah common… you know you want to get that hula skirt for Hodges…" Grissom gave her a mean look. "Oh don't look at me that way… he would do the same for you!" and she started laughing hysterically.

Grissom was trying not to laugh, making it look like he was still pouting.

"It's not nice to pout in front of your wife you know…" Sara knew she would make him laugh sooner or later. Grissom could barely contain his laughter.

"Oh fine!" and she started to walk away, smiling, but he couldn't see it.

Grissom quickly walked up behind her and swirled her around, and planted a kiss on her lips, surprising her beyond reason. He backed away a bit, looking for her reaction, this time she was the one blushing and speechless.

"Now who's speechless and blushing…?" Sara had never seen Grissom act in such a playful banter.

"Um, that would be me." She smiled again, realizing she never smiled so much in her life like she did in the past 24 hours. They both sat down on a bench in a green garden near the mall. "Where have you been hiding this part of you all this time? I recall asking you out to dinner a long time ago…" she looked a bit sad as she said so.

"Well, let's just say the priorities in my life changed after Nick got kidnapped. Life's just too short to give up on the things you want the most." Sara was almost on the brink of tears. He really did care so much for her, and tragic event had finally managed to shake him up and make him realize what he wanted the most, her.

"Don't cry…" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"No one's ever said anything like that to me before in my life…" she nuzzled in the crook of his neck. Grissom looked into her eyes.

"Well let's just say your dentist finally saw the light." And he kissed her forehead. His declaration made her laugh.

"You are my dentist, but I'm still your surgeon." She giggled.

"I'd never argue with my wife that knows her way around a scalpel." And joined her laughter.

"So do you still want to take me shopping?" she grinned.

"I have no way out of it, so I guess I will…" He smiled as they got up from the bench. He gave her a big hug and gave her a quick kiss.

"And I'll let you decide which store to go shopping…" and gave her a wink.

"I can't argue with that…" She grabbed Grissom's hand and dragged him towards a small shop.

"What did I get myself into?" he asked her, but all he got was a playful slap on the shoulder in return.

* * *

"I never took you for the shop-a-holic type!" he laughed as he carried a few shopping bags in each hand. Again, he got a playful slap on the shoulder.

"Hey! I'm carrying all of your bags honey, the least you can do is be nice to me!" he laughed again.

"Nah, it's your job to carry my stuff." She smiled at him. "Besides, we had to get some good souvenirs and clothes, it's our honeymoon, we have to spend money…" and she winked at him.

"I only have a pair of shorts in there, all the rest is your stuff!" he exclaimed.

"Oh be nice…"

"Oh alright… but we need to get this stuff back at the room before I fall over…" he pouted.

"Oh okay honey… but you seriously are out of shape if you can't carry a few shopping bags…" she laughed.

"I am in shape, I'm just not used to carrying bricks in a shopping bags all afternoon." He laughed.

"Alright then, let's head over to our room then, big baby…" she mocked.

"Be nice, I'm carrying the credit cards honey…" he laughed. Sara smacked his shoulder, which almost caused him to drop a shopping bag. Sara started laughing.

"Ouch honey…" Grissom half-lied. Sara stopped walking and stood in front of him.

"How about I do this…" Sara leaned in and kissed him, which caused Grissom to drop a shopping bag. Sara slowly backed away and started laughing and whispered in his ear.

"I never thought I had this kind of effect on you all this time…"

"You're my Achilles' heel…" Sara looked straight into his deep blue eyes.

"That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me..." And she gave him a big hug.

All of a sudden something caught Sara's eye in the vegetation some 30 feet away. It looked like some man hiding in the bushes.

"Grissom, don't move or do anything, it looks like someone is watching from the bushes behind you…" she whispered in his ear.

Grissom's eyes widened, but he still held her in a hug. "Can you make an ID on him?" He whispered in her ear.

Sara was looking around, but the man had disappeared out of thin air.

"No, he's gone." Sara backed out of the hug and looked directly in his eyes. "Do you think we're safe?" Grissom looked back in her eyes.

"I believe so, the FBI is stationed everywhere… Come, we should go back to our room." Grissom could see that Sara still had worry written in her eyes. "Honey, don't worry too much about it, we'll let the FBI know about it and they'll take care of it, it's what they're there for." But when that didn't seem to rid her eyes of worry he lowered his voice and continued "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe sweetheart."

"Thanks." And she gave him a great big hug. "Let's go."

And they made their way out of the gardens to tower # 2, oblivious again, to the fact that the shadow in the bushes was looking at them walk away.

* * *

"I'm so glad we're here, I'm done with these shopping bags…" Grissom said as he put them down to fish out the room key from his pocket.

"Oh, shush… I never thought you'd be the type to whine about such things…" Sara laughed.

"I don't whine…" Grissom pouted.

"Proof's in the pudding dear…" Sara laughed some more. Grissom put the key in and opened their room door. Sara was the first to walk in.

"I hope you still have some energy left over, we still have dinner to go to;"

"Do we really have to? Sometimes I wish I was back in Vegas…" Grissom added seriously, which earned him a dirty look from Sara. "Let me finish dear…" Sara's stern looks softened. "What I meant was that I wish we weren't on this wild good chase, but rather in our normal routines, so I could take you out to dinner the right way…or just watch Discovery channel all evening eating popcorn with you, not being bait for some serial killer…"

"Oh Gil…I never thought you thought of this kind of stuff…" Sara started to get teary.

"I do Sara… people might see me as the unsociable type, but very few know the real me." He walked over to her and put both his hands on her shoulders, brushing some stray blonde strands in the process. "You wouldn't believe how long I've wondered how it would actually feel to be very close to you, go to dinner with you, kiss you or just hold you in my arms…" He looked deep into her brown eyes framed by her dark glasses. When she didn't reply, he continued. "All those years you were in Vegas, I struggled to keep my feelings in check, that's probably when you started to notice that I always looked like I was deep in thought…"

"You were thinking of me…?" Sara was flattered.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I should have made a move sooner, but being a CSI led me to believe the facts and not emotions, but after a while, you start wondering where the facts actually lead you, and most of the time it only leads to a lonely path that you walk alone." Sara could see that Grissom's words were coming straight from his heart. "And almost losing Nick was the catalyst to that realization."

"If only I had known all this time Gil…" was all Sara could manage to say, this new side of Grissom was really something to get used to.

"The past is the past, I can't change what I did or didn't do, all I can do is plan for the now. And that now has you in the picture, the missing piece to my very complicated puzzle of a life…"

Sara was at the loss for words for what she felt. She took his chin in his hands and deeply looked into his eyes. "I've always loved you…" And she kissed him again, but more passionately than any of the previous kisses they had shared earlier. She slowly backed away from the kiss, her eyes still closed. Grissom was the first to talk.

"I love you Sara." There, he had actually come out and said it with words, he had never used that 4-letter word with anyone before, but he had never felt about any other woman before like he did with Sara. He wrapped his arms around her in a great big bear hug. No further words were exchanged, but none had to be said, they both understood where they stood with each other. Just then a ringing sound caused Grissom to loosen his grip on the hug.

"Is that the phone again?" Sara asked.

"I think so, let me go check, it might be the FBI giving us updates on our guy…" Grissom kissed her cheek and was gone in search of the ringing piece of technology. He found the cell phone, but the ringing wasn't emanating from it. He looked towards the room phone, it was still ringing. He walked over to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" Nothing.

"Hello?" Nothing again. Grissom hung up the phone.

Sara walked towards him, unnoticed by him since he had his back turned to her. "Who was it?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Mystery caller that got shy again."

"Think it's our guy? He probably saw us come up to our room after we left the mall…"

"Maybe, who's to know?" Grissom untangled her arms around his waist and turned around to see her face to face, still holding her hands in his hands.

"Let's just change and go to dinner. You go ahead, I'll call our friends at the FBI to let them know so they can possibly trace that call in the meantime."

"Sure thing, I'll see if I can wear something that we bought today…" She winked at him before disappearing into the bedroom. Grissom got the cell phone and dialed "Justin's" phone number.

1 ring, 2 rings…

"Hello?" The other voice answered.

"Justin, it's Jeff, I think we may have a problem here…"

"And what would that be?"

"We received another hang-up phone call, and this afternoon we suspected someone was spying on us near the resort mall, in the bushes right across from the Tropic Boutique. Would you be able to trace the call and check for some prints or trace near the mall?"

"I'm right on it. Thanks for letting us know, I'll get someone to see if they can trace that call right away and get one of my guys to check out the gardens. Is everything working out well besides that?"

"We can't argue, the facilities are great and the room accommodates us very well." Grissom had forgotten to thank them for the great suite they were set up in.

"Are you sure? We had forgotten to get a cot in the suite before you arrived."

"It's fine really, we take shifts on the couch." Grissom half lied, he and Sara hadn't discussed their sleeping arrangements yet.

"Oh alright, but don't hesitate to reach us if you need anything. We will keep you posted on whether or not we were able to trace that call, and we will set up more agents in the mall area and around the restaurant tonight."

"Thank you."

"No problem, your safety is our number one priority. Goodbye."

And both parties hung up their phones.

Just then, Sara came walking out of the bedroom with a knee-length red evening dress, and some high-heeled sandals that matched the dress. She looked stunning. Grissom stood there, looking, but not saying a word.

"Cat got your tongue Gil?" Sara laughed.

"Um, no, I'm just not used to seeing you in dresses, that's all. You look stunning."

"Thanks…" Sara started blushing a bit. "You have to dress up too you know, it's a fancy restaurant…"

"Do I really?" he asked.

"Oh course. Now, were you able to reach the FBI?"

"Oh, yes, I was. They're going to try to trace that call and they'll station more agents on watch after the spying episode we had with our possible killer."

"Good. Now go get dressed, we have reservations for 6 pm, that's in roughly an hour. We could maybe go check out where I saw the mystery man this afternoon, maybe get some shoe prints."

"Sara, we're the decoys here, we don't do the investigating honey. Let's just go enjoy our dinner date." He gave her a warming smile.

"If you say so…" she countered, but she noticed that he was still looking at her dress. "You know, you can stop looking at the dress…" she laughed.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized.

"There's no need to, I'm glad you like it. You know, when we were shopping, I noticed that you kept looking at this dress, that's why when you left and got yourself something to drink I tried it on and got it." She smiled. "You were pretty obvious about liking it…" she laughed.

"Guilty as charged." Grissom smiled back at her. He slowly walked towards her and the bedroom. "And yes, I will get ready…"

"Alright, don't take too long, I'm getting hungry for dinner." She laughed. She didn't get an answer in return, since he was already going through his clothes to find the perfect outfit.

Sara was watching the local news channel on tv when Grissom came out of the bedroom, what she saw took her completely off guard.

"How's this for dressing up?" he asked her.

Sara was speechless. Grissom was wearing a complete suit, one fancy tuxedo.

"Gil, did you bring that from home…?"

"Yes, just in case we did have to dress up."

"You're going to cook in there!"

"I'll be fine Sara, it can't be any worst that working a scene in the Vegas desert heat, that's for certain." He laughed.

"You do have a point." She looked at his suit again from head to toe. "I've never seen you in this one, you always wear that other suit when you go to court… This looks like a new one."

"Should I be worried that you've memorized my wardrobe?" he laughed.

"When a guy looks that good in a suit, you do memorize his wardrobe…" Sara gave him a wink as she turned around and got her purse, leaving Grissom to blush again behind her.

"Seriously, you have got to stop blushing!" she grinned, as he stood there speechless.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to getting compliments…" he looked, shy…? Sara thought.

"Good looking, yes, but cute, blushing and shy, are three words I would have never thought to associate with you before coming here…" Sara playfully threw back at him while she saw him become redder by the second.

"Sara, this conversation doesn't leave Hawaii…" he threw back at her "or else…"

"Or else what…?" She was mischievously smiling at him.

"Oh, you don't want to know…." He was looking playful?

"Try me."

"How about making you work the next dozen decomps?"

"Oh no you wouldn't…"

"And why not..?"

"Because it would cost you too many lemons to get the smell off of me, unless you want to watch tv with someone smelling like death!" she laughed.

"I hadn't thought this one through well enough…" he admitted.

Sara started laughing. "You've got nothing on me… all the better to tell back at the lab…" she was grinning like a Cheshire cat up until when Grissom quickly walked over to her and kissed her, taking her off guard. After a little while he slowly backed away. Sara still had surprise written all over her face.

"Still not used to the new me yet?" Grissom asked her smiling.

"…I'm starting to, but not complaining one bit." She quickly kissed his cheek and continued. "We better get going, or we'll be late for our dinner reservation…."

"Party pooper." He pouted.

"Did you just say what I think you said…?" were her ears playing tricks on her?

He laughed. "Does it matter?" All he earned was a playful slap on the shoulder.

"Hey! That won't earn you a romantic dinner you know…"

"You? Romantic...? You'll have to prove it to me for me to believe it." She smiled.

"You got yourself a deal." He grabbed her arm and led her towards the door. "I won't disappoint you." He whispered in her ear as they walked out of their room.

* * *

"What may I get you to drink?" the waiter asked them.

"Do you serve wine?" Grissom asked him.

"Some of the best white and red wines in the US sir." The waiter proudly answered.

"Bring us a bottle of your best red wine please."

"No problem sir." And the waiter left towards the kitchen area.

"Did you just order expensive red wine?" Sara smiled back at him in surprise.

"I'm keeping the end of my bargain my dear." Grissom smiled back.

"We'll see about that…" before she could continue, the waiter came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Here is the wine you requested. Enjoy." He put down the glasses and the bottle. "Here are the menus. I will be back in a few minutes to take your orders." He handed them the menus and walked back towards the kitchen.

"What are you hungry for? And don't say salad honey…" Grissom asked Sara.

"There are other things besides salads that us vegetarians eat…" Sara laughed. "Let me see… the pastas look very good…" Sara continued to read through the menu.

Grissom smiled. "They do look good… but I think I'll go with the fresh Hawaiian fish. Sorry honey, I'm no vegetarian." He grinned at her. Just then the waiter came back to take their orders.

"Are you ready?" The waiter asked.

Sara was the first to speak. "I'll have the fettuccini special with garlic bread." The waiter took down her order and looked over to Grissom. "And you sir?"

"I'll have the Hawaiian fish special." The waiter took down Grissom's order.

"Very good choices. It will be about fifteen minutes." And he disappeared into the busy restaurant.

"Are you glad Philippe wasn't our waiter?" Grissom asked playfully.

"Oh, don't get me started…" Sara warned. "I'm scared of seeing him in some other part of this resort working some other job." Sara laughed as she said so. "Coming to think of it, he seemed to remind me of an alternate version of Hodges trying to impress you…" Sara continued, but it only earned her a dirty look from Grissom. "Oh don't give me that look… you know I'm right…" she smiled at him as she carefully put her hand on his. Grissom's stern look was replaced by laughter.

"Alright honey, I give up, you are right…" and he put his other hand on top of her hand. "I could definitely get used to this…" he said as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"Me too…" she replied, sharing the tender moment. "You will never cease to amaze and surprise me…" She was surprised again when he leaned in and kissed her gently. He slowly backed away, never leaving her eyes. "You've always amazed me, and always will honey." Then he added softly "You're what keeps me going honey, I couldn't see myself without you in the future."

Sara's eyes started watering.

"Don't cry honey…" Grissom comforted.

Sara sniffled a bit. "…Don't worry, they're not sad tears, they're happy ones…" and she smiled as she going to wipe away her tears, but Grissom beat her to it as he reached across the table. Grissom looked so sincere.

"I really do mean all that I say honey…" and he took her hands in his. "I love you." He almost whispered, but just loud enough that she could hear. Just then, to ruin the delicate moment, the waiter arrived with their plates.

"Here you go sir and ma'am. Bon appetit." And he was gone in a flash again.

"Waiters do know how to ruin a romantic moment don't they?" Sara smiled back at Grissom. "And, I love you too…" Grissom gave her his warmest smile.

"If someone would have told me a years ago this is where we'd be at this exact moment, I would have never believed it, but now that I look at it, it's the most wonderful thing that's happened in my life…" Grissom admitted.

Sara wiped away another tear. "Honey, you gotta stop doing this, or I'll be crying all of this romantic dinner." She lightly laughed.

"Alright then my dear, let's start eating before it gets cold…" he took a bite from his plate and looked at her again. "I'll finish my declarations later…" and winked at her.

"I'll keep you to it." Was her only reply before she dug into her pasta.

"Promise." Grissom replied before digging into his plate.

* * *

"That was one very delicious dinner." Sara admitted as she linked her arm to Grissom's as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Very much." He replied as he kissed the crook of her neck.

"Ever the romantic… you and your idea of sharing that cheesecake dessert." She laughed. "I'm sure those FBI nuts are going to be talking about that later…" she whispered.

"We're in Hawaii, why not?" he smiled at her.

They walked among the gardens to their tower where their room was.

"I guess you win honey."

"I win?" he was surprised.

"I really appreciated that romantic dinner, so what happens in Hawaii, stays in Hawaii…" she laughed. "I would have surely loved to see the look on a particular director's face though…"

"Don't push it honey, or you'll suffer the consequences…" and he gave her a mock-glare followed by a laugh.

"I'll try to remember that…" Sara admitted as she smiled back at him.

"Now that that's settled, let's get back to our room, you're shopping spree tired me out today!"

Sara started laughing. "Give me a break… those shopping bags weren't that heavy…"

Grissom shook his head as he laughed. They entered their building and headed for the elevator, again oblivious to a mystery figure eyeing them with binoculars.

* * *

"Home sweet home." Grissom said as they walked into their room. "I'm tired…" he yawned.

Sara came walking in beside him. "I'm sorry I kept you awake last night with my snoring…"

Grissom laughed. "Sara, I said you don't have to worry about it, and you already apologized." He gave her a big hug then leaned in for a kiss. Just then the room phone started to ring.

"We have such great timing…" Grissom said as he walked over to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" Grissom answered.

Nothing.

"Hello?" Grissom repeated.

"Well hello Mr. Lyndsley, it's about time you picked up the phone…"

"I'm sorry sir, but you do understand I'm on my honeymoon with the Mrs."

"Ah yes, the lovely Amber…" Grissom didn't like where this conversation was going.

"What exactly is the purpose of your call? I seemed to have missed your name also…"

"My name doesn't matter at the moment, or does it?"

"If you proceed with this line of questioning, I will not hesitate to hang up on you." Grissom was getting tired of this mystery man.

"You are a direct man, aren't you Jeff? Well, let me keep this short for your pleasure, I merely called to let you know, that you and the Mrs. are being kept under a watchful eye, nothing more…" And before Grissom could answer the line went dead. Grissom's mind went into overdrive, this had to be the same man that was spying on them!

Sara came back into the kitchenette area, scared by the look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Honey… I just talked to our killer…"

"What??!?!" Sara ran over to where Grissom was standing, he was still holding the phone in his hand, looking very pale. Grissom said nothing. It was Sara's turn to comfort him.

"What do you mean? What did he say???" Grissom looked at her with worried eyes.

"He knows who we are, not our real selves, but our new identities. He said that we were under his watchful eye… and hung up on me."

"Oh my god, we have to trace that call! Call what's his name from the FBI!" Grissom just realized he hadn't thought about the FBI, but rather his safety and Sara's.

"I'll give them a call right away." And Grissom dialed the cell phone to call the FBI while Sara went and checked to see if all the windows and door were locked properly, and if anything in their suite had been moved.

* * *

"So what did they say?" Sara asked worriedly.

"They were able to trace that first call, it came from a gas station a fifteen minute drive from here. Now they're working on tracing this one…" They stationed additional undercover agents as working staff to see if we can catch this guy." Grissom felt a bit relieved knowing that there are many FBI agents keeping an eye on them. "We should be fine Sara…" He didn't seem that confident, Sara thought.

"Are you sure? How did he get the number to our room?" Sara asked him.

"Who knows? He knows both of our names, so I suppose he might be getting information from the inside of this resort…" Sara wasn't the least bit assured by his comments.

"Are we safe here in our room? The FBI said they weren't going to put surveillance in our room…?"

"Sara, honey…" he walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. "We'll be fine, the door to our room is locked, and we're on the 20th floor. Our killer would have to be pretty determined to climb up 20 stories of balconies to get to ours, besides the patio door is locked also. Don't worry about it Sara…" and he started to gently rub her back, feeling her tense muscles relaxing. "Now, go take a bath and relax. Might as well take advantage of that whirlpool tub that came with the room." He laughed. Sara started to smile again.

"Ok fine, if you say so…" She backed away from his hug and headed towards the bedroom, but she turned around towards him right before leaving the living room. "What are you going to do in the meantime…?"

"I'll look at the file to see what our mission is for tomorrow." He grinned.

"Alright then." And she left the room as Grissom opened the case file and leaned back on the sofa.

* * *

Sara came walking into the living room clad in a black tank top and dark blue plaid pj pants.

"So, what's our mission for tomorrow?" Sara asked him as she sat down beside him on the couch. Grissom turned to her and looked at her.

"Tomorrow's mission consists of going to the pool to swim and sunbathe and in late-afternoon, we have reservations at the day spa for massages and then the sauna. As for the evening, we have reservations at a different restaurant for dinner. What do you think?"

"The pool and a spa treatment? Who would argue with that?" she joked.

"I'm glad you agree with it." He smiled. "Now, I don't know what you think of it, but what do you want to do about the sleeping arrangements tonight? I don't want to rush things or anything…" he looked a bit shy as he asked her the question. "I know we've revealed intentions but…" Sara cut him off.

"Gil, why would I make you sleep on the couch, a romantic dinner and you telling me you love me…? I'm pretty sure a king sized bed is big enough to share." she smiled.

"Are you sure…?" he seemed insure of himself.

"Of course silly." Sara laughed. "Are you okay with it…?" Was he regretting things?

"Yes, I'm just a little nervous, that's all…"

"Because…" Sara was curious. When was Grissom nervous?? Sara thought.

"I… I.. haven't really shared a bed before with someone…" Grissom was blushing a bit.

"Are you serious? I have a hard time believing…" Sara was surprised at his declaration. Grissom didn't let her finish. "It's true. I've lived by myself for the past two decades if not more, but what I meant is that I've never shared a bed with someone I … Love." He finished.

Sara's previous worries vanished and were replaced by feelings she never felt before… a deep feeling of love she only thought was present in movies…

Grissom looked at her with puppy dog eyes, waiting for her answer.

"Oh Gil…" No words could express what she felt. She took the file he was holding and put it on the coffee table, he watched, curious at what she was planning. Sara suddenly pushed him on his back on the couch and suddenly stopped when her torso was on top of his and her face was only inches away from his. "How about we change that?" and her lips crashed onto his. Grissom was surprised at how direct Sara was, but he let his heart follow through with what it wanted, and that feeling left him feeling like a love struck teenager.

Sara couldn't believe what she was doing, she had only dreamed of this moment, but now that it was real, she couldn't believe all that had happened.

When they both had to come up for air, they both looked in each other's eyes. No words were exchanged, but both knew that their new relationship was here to stay.

Grissom ran a hand through her hair and tucked behind her ear a few strands. Finally Grissom spoke up "I now consider myself the luckiest man alive…" His eyes were filled with genuine love. "The fact that a beautiful woman like you would ever go for a man like me never ceases to amaze me…" he admitted.

Sara gave him a quick kiss and slowly got up from on top of him.

"Well, your many qualities and devotion to things never cease to amaze me either, so let's call it even." She grinned back at him. "Now go wash and then we can go to bed, we have a mission to complete tomorrow." She added in her 007 mock-voice.

"Yes, sitting beside a pool all day is hard work…" he laughed.

* * *

When Grissom walked into the washroom, he stopped and looked at himself in the mirror, what he saw took him completely off guard. There, facing him was not a sad, lonely middle-aged man, but a man who looked ten years younger, and that had a smile plastered on his face. Grissom had a hard time believing that the man facing him was actually himself and pinched his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming those past few days. No, he wasn't dreaming he thought to himself as the pinch hurt. He couldn't believe how much their relationship had evolved so much since they left Vegas to come to Hawaii. He quickly looked again in the mirror, he was grinning like an idiot. "I really have to stop grinning like this…" he thought as he let out a small chuckle before hopping into the shower.

Sara's thoughts had now turned to mush, she felt like a girl who was head over heels in love for the first time. Sara got up from the couch and headed towards the bedroom. She walked in, and then walked outside onto the balcony. The cool evening breeze was blowing in her hair as she leaned her elbows on the ledge, looking at the waves hitting the beach. She was taken back to her childhood, when she was living in California with her foster parents who owned a bed and breakfast on the shore and she would spend hours watching the waves hit the shore. Sara felt so relaxed looking at the tranquil landscape, asking herself why she never took more vacation time to take a break from it all. Sara was so absorbed in her thoughts and the view that she didn't notice someone walking behind her. The mystery person wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled in her neck.

"You smell good." She whispered

"I hope so, I haven't worked any decomps lately…" he joked. Sara turned around to look at him face to face. His hair was mussed up since he had just gotten out of the shower.

"Very funny…" She smiled back at him. Grissom was wearing plaid pj pants, a t-shirt, and he was barefoot, which surprised her, as she had never seen him walking around barefoot before.

"So, honey, what are you doing out here anyways? It's cool out."

"Just enjoying the tranquility. I used to stay and watch the sea for hours as a kid when I lived in California. I miss it sometimes…"

"When was the last time you've been in California?" he asked as he looked deeply in her eyes.

"I honestly don't remember…" she admitted.

"You know… my mother lives in California…" he started, which earned him a surprised look from her. He continued, "We both have a lot of banked vacation time, I'm sure work wouldn't mind…"

Sara looked at him wide eyed. "You want to introduce me to your mother and take a trip to California?"

Grissom started blushing again.

"That is so sweet, but are you sure?"

"Like I said, she's been wanting to meet you for a very long time. I'm sure you two would get along just fine." He smiled back at her. Sara's eyes started to water, and she smiled back at him. She leaned closed to him and whispered to him. "Never in my life has a guy introduced me to his mother… I'd be very happy to meet her."

Grissom was overwhelmed by the fact that she wanted to meet her.

"I'm so glad, besides, you two will probably end up exchanging recipes…"

"How so?" Sara was curious.

"She's a vegetarian." He smiled at her.

Sara started laughing. "Sounds good to me."

"Alright, now that that's settled, lets go inside, it's getting late, we have a busy schedule tomorrow." Sara smiled back at him.

"Yeah, it's a tough day on the job lying around the pool area all day and going at the spa…" They both walked into their room from the balcony with wide grins.

Grissom closed the patio door behind him and locked it.

"Sara?" Grissom looked unsure of himself.

"What's wrong Gil?" She looked concerned.

"About the sleeping arrangements, I was thinking, I can sleep on the couch if you want…"

"What are you talking about…?" Sara looked angry. "You ask me to go visit your mother, yet you don't want to share a bed with me…?" Uh Oh, Grissom thought.

"No, that's not it… it's…"

"…What?" Sara sarcastically finished for him.

"I want to, but…It's your snoring honey…" Grissom sheepishly answered.

Sara's expression softened. "That's it? Is my snoring bothering you that much?" she laughed.

"I could hear you from the living room yesterday…" Grissom blushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think I was that bad…" she apologized.

"I think you'd give Greg a run for his money…" Grissom admitted, which earned him a small smack on the shoulder from Sara.

"Hey, that's not very nice!" Sara laughed.

"Well… how about I take the couch for tonight? See how bad your snoring is…"

"Are you sure Gil? You're all cramped up on that small couch…" Sara was concerned about him.

"Oh, don't you worry about me honey… you take the big bed." He walked closer to her and quickly kissed her cheek. "Now, go to bed honey." He quickly hugged her.

"Alright then…"

"Now that that's settled, time to go to bed, it's late. I haven't gotten used to being awake during the day…" he admitted.

"You do have a point there…" Sara yawned.

"Well goodnight honey…" Grissom kissed her lightly and started to walk towards the door leading to the living room.

"Goodnight Gil." She returned as he turned around and smiled at her, wishing that they were sharing the big bed.

* * *

Sara woke up all of a sudden, woken up by a sudden sound.

"What the…?" Sara squinted as the bright sunlight coming from the patio door hit her sleepy eyes. She started moving to get up, but she quickly realized that an arm draped over her torso pinned her down. Then she heard the loud noise again.

"You have got to be kidding me…" was all Sara could think. Grissom was loudly snoring beside her. "What am I supposed to do now?" Sara thought. Sara tried to wiggle out, but Grissom's grip only tightened around her waist, and he was still snoring.

"So much for me snoring, he's worst than I am…" she thought. Then it hit her, Grissom had fallen asleep on the couch and sometime during the night decided to come share the bed with her. Sara took a moment to take in the moment, never in a million years would she have thought a week ago that she and Grissom would now be sharing a bed together at a resort in Hawaii. She felt like she hadn't slept this good in years, she felt well rested, and this coming from her who hadn't shared a bed with someone else in a very long time. Sara smiled as she settled back down on her pillow, she could really get used to this…

Rewind to 12am...

Grissom woke up on the couch, his back sore from the much too short couch. He got up to get a drink of water in the kitchen. After gulping a large glass of water, he sleepily walked over to the door leading to the bedroom. Sara was fast asleep, and hair mussed up everywhere, which Grissom thought to be adorable. Grissom was admiring her sleeping form when he realized something. Sara wasn't snoring. He pinched himself to see if he was dreaming. Nope, he was awake. He slowly started walking inside the room contemplating the next thing he should do. Should he let her sleep and he sleep on the small couch? Or, should he be bold and sneak into bed with her? The king size bed was plenty big for the both of them. He took a step backward and then a step forward. He took another step forward, and another. He felt like he was sleepwalking inside the room, his heart telling him over and over again that he should have done so a long time ago. Before he realized it, he was standing at the foot of the bed, still looking at her sleeping peacefully. He walked to the opposite side and sat on the bed without making a single sound. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.

Fast forward to present…

Grissom, still drowsy, was woken up by someone squirming beside him. He slowly opened his eyes, and was soon blinded by the bright room filled with sunlight. As his eyes adjusted, he realized that he had his arm draped over Sara's torso. He hadn't slept in the same bed with anyone in as long as he could remember, but he had never felt this way as now with Sara. As she started to move again, he tightened his hold on her, wishing they could stay like this all day. Just as his unknown sudden courage hit him once more, he nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear, "Good morning honey."

Sara that had now just relaxed and about to fall asleep again, felt like she was about to melt into a pile of goo when he whispered in her ear.

"Good morning…" she said between yawns. "What brought you to my bed?" Sara asked jokily.

"You." He simply answered. "You weren't snoring, and that couch was really getting uncomfortable, it's about a foot too short for me." He laughed.

"I had told you so." Sara turned onto her back and faced him. "But my snoring was the least of your worries, you were the one snoring, you woke me up!" She laughed.

"Was I?" Grissom worried.

"It's no big deal, let's call it even for my snoring the other night." And she gave him one of her best Sidle-smiles.

"Deal." He answered as she snuggled against him.

"What time is it anyways?" he asked her casually.

"I'm not too sure, what does the alarm clock on your side say?"

"Let's see…" He lazily rolled onto his side to take a look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. "You have got to be kidding me…"

"What's wrong…?" Sara was worried.

"It says… that it's 11:30 am… that can't be right, that would mean that we've slept for..."

"…twelve and a half hours?" Sara finished for him. "You have got to be kidding me! I haven't slept more than 12 hours since I was in college!"

"Ditto." Grissom said surprised.

"So let me get this straight, we, both workaholics that rarely see more than 6 hours a sleep everyday, both sleep more than double what we usually do…?" Sara was astonished at the fact.

"Well if your assumption is right and the clock isn't reading the wrong time, I could definitely get used to this…" Grissom admitted with a smile.

"I'm glad we both share the same point of view there love." Grissom looked surprised. "Is Gil better?"

"No, I'm just trying to visualize things back at work…" he had a mischievous smile.

"You, Gil Grissom with dirty thoughts of work…?" Sara joked.

"No, just maybe planning a little joke on a certain annoying lab rat…" Uh oh… Sara thought.

"No way! You, planning a prank on Hodges?? You have been working too many cases with Greggo dear…" she laughed.

He still had a mischievous smile on his face. "Wouldn't be the first time…"

"No wait…" she paused. "Last week… that was you that put that dye in Hodges' coffee leaving all his teeth black for a whole day…?" Sara was surprised, all Grissom did was smile back. "You do know that Archie and Greg got blamed for it, don't you…?"

"That's the best part about being a supervisor…" he laughed, and she laughed soon after.

"You never cease to surprise me…"

"Good, you don't either…" he kissed her forehead. "…But honey, don't tell me you've never played any pranks at the lab… I always suspected that you were the one who glued Ecklie's office supplies to his desk with super glue… I just never had the evidence." He smiled back at her.

"Well… good pranksters never get caught…" she laughed.

"Maybe we can plan a few of our own at the lab when we get back to Vegas…" He smiled again.

"You're on!" Sara smiled back.

"Now that that's settled, you hungry? Considering that it's almost noon…" he laughed.

"Actually I am…" She sat up in bed against the headboard. "So, what are you hungry for?"

"Pancakes." He answered cheerily.

"You, Gil Grissom, have a craving for pancakes…?" She laughed again.

"Blueberry and whipped cream pancakes that is." Sara laughed harder.

"Don't they have room service here?" She asked him between laughs.

"Yes they do. You thinking what I'm thinking?" he looked mischievous again.

"Hey, we're not paying, so why not have a breakfast on the FBI for all the trouble they gave us?" Sara started getting up but Grissom stopped her, wrapping his arms around her.

"And where do you think you're going honey…?" Seriously, where had this playful Grissom appeared from? Sara thought.

"The phone to order room service…" She quickly kissed his cheek and slipped out of his grip to get the phone, leaving Grissom behind, with a smile on his face. How can such a beautiful woman love me and make me such a happy man…? He asked himself as he started smiling like an idiot again, floating on cloud number 9.

10 minutes later…

"This has to be one of the best vacations I've ever taken." Sara told Grissom between bites of her strawberry waffle.

"Ditto." He was too busy taking bites out of his pancakes to say more.

"It sure didn't take them long to get the food here did it? It's a record in my book that's for sure." She laughed, taking another bite.

Grissom didn't answer her, he was still digging into his pancakes.

"Slow down, you're going to choke on those pancakes!"

"That's fine, as long as you're the one giving me the Heimlich or CPR…" he joked.

"Oh dear, you are really like any other guy out there aren't you?" she bugged him back.

"Sara, just as my Y chromosome shows, I'm just like any other one of those other guys, we're all hard-wired to think the same way." Sara started laughing.

"Am I that funny…?"

"Very much so." She continued to laugh. She then took the last bite of her waffle. "Mmm… that was delicious. I haven't had breakfast in bed in forever."

"Ditto." And he continued to munch on his pancakes, smiling at her between bites.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much in such a small period of time Gil… I never would have thought you to be the smiling type… considering all that gruesome Grissom character you play at the lab…" she bugged him, he frowned.

"Oh, don't give that look… More gruesome Grissom at the lab means more funny Gil at home for me…" She leaned in and kissed him, tasting the whipped cream.

"Mmm… yummy…" she bugged him, he smiled back. "So… what are we supposed to do today again?"

"We are supposed to, how do they say this, "hang out" at the pool all of early to mid afternoon, and then afterwards have an appointment at the spa at 5 for a massage treatment and sauna treatment. Afterwards, we have reservations for supper at 8 at the lounge for supper and drinks. That about sums it up for today."

"Wow, I couldn't imagine how much that would cost in Vegas…"

"An arm and a leg, in every sense of the words." He laughed.

"All the more to enjoy it when it's free…" She looked over at his empty plate. "Did you just finish that WHOLE plate…?" she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, I was hungry, besides we skipped our breakfast so I doubled up on the lunch instead."

"You always eat pancakes and pastries back in Vegas?" she joked.

"Not really, I eat healthy back home, but we're on vacation, might as well enjoy it. And if I were eating as many pastries as you think I am, I would definitely not be looking the way I am…" he laughed. "And to your surprise, I could be going at the gym…" he joked.

"Oh, I wouldn't bet my money on it…" She joked back as got up and grabbed the empty plates and brought them to the kitchen sink.

* * *

"So ready to go?" Sara asked Grissom as she grabbed her beach bag. She was wearing a flowy pink skirt and a light blue halter top with flip flops.

"I suppose… it's going to be some tough work out there in the field…" he joked. He was wearing black board shorts and palm-tree themed tropical shirt.

"They would sure get a laugh out of seeing us dressed like this back home…" Grissom looked at his clothes and back at Sara. "I warned you Sara, what happens in Hawaii, stays in Hawaii…" he joked back at her.

"Fine… but you're bringing those clothes back home…" she gave him a flirtatious smile.

Grissom rolled his eyes and smiled. "We better get going, we already late since we slept in too much…"

"Oh fine… but you're not going to sit by the pool all afternoon reading a book…" she mocked. He lifted an eyebrow.

"We'll just see about that…" he smiled.

In a flash they were out their room and headed for the pool area.

* * *

"Honey, let's get a locker for our keys and things, we don't want any unexpected visitors in our suite, do we?" Sara understood what Grissom meant by that. She wasn't too fond of the thought that their killer could get into their room while they were by the poolside.

"Great idea dear." And they headed for the coin lockers. Grissom put a quarter in the locker and opened it up to put their things of value in it. A few seconds later he closed the locker and they headed to a row of loungers alongside the adult pool, where there were less children running around and splashing.

"So are you going to swim, or lounge all afternoon?" she asked him.

"Lounge… I'm not much of the swimming type…" he walked over to a lounger and reclined in it. "Now this is the life honey…" he said as he stretched out his arms above his head.

"Lazy… I knew you weren't hitting the gym…" she bugged him.

"Say what you will honey, but I'm lying back and relaxing…"

"Have it your way, I'm swimming…" and she started undressing. Grissom's eyes almost came out of its sockets.

"Honey, what are you doing?? I saw some changing rooms over there…" Sara started laughing.

"Oh silly…" she took off her shirt and skirt to reveal a two-piece bikini swimsuit. "I just wanted to save some time at the pool instead of having to go change…"

Grissom continued to stare at her.

"What's wrong?" Sara was confused, then it hit her, the most skin she had showed off at work was a tank top with dress pants! "Little too revealing?" she worried.

Grissom had a smile creeping up on his face. "It's fine dear… you have _nothing_ to worry about…" the smiling-like-an-idiot smile again, Sara thought as she laughed mentally.

Sara turned around, smiling, and started walking towards the edge of the pool, oblivious to the plan Grissom had formulated a few seconds earlier.

Grissom waited until she had turned around to put his plan at work. He quietly got up from his lounger, took off his shirt and draped it over the lounger and proceeded to very quietly sneak behind Sara. Just as Sara was about to reach the edge of the pool, Grissom quickly wrapped a hand around her waist and dragged her with him into the pool, making a large splash.

"Oh my god!" Sara yelled. She turned around to see a laughing Grissom, covered in water. "How dare you!" She took a handful of water and threw it at him.

"Hey!" he laughed, and she soon joined him.

"You weren't joking…" she admitted seriously when eying him.

"About what…?" he walked through the pool closer to her…

"This…" she said quietly as she poked his chest. "You _have_ been hitting the gym haven't you…?" she added smiling.

"That I have…" he added in a macho fashion.

"Oh don't give me that macho thing…" she laughed. Sara suddenly felt self-conscious about her swimsuit, and Grissom saw that.

"And you, honey, look amazing." And he looked deeply into her eyes as he said so.

Sara started to smile, but it was soon gone when Grissom wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him to lay his lips on hers, placing a tender kiss there. Sara was floating on cloud. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. When they had to come up for air, they both looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"I love you." He whispered into her ear as she started to blush.

"Right back at you honey…" and she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually grabbed me and threw me into the pool…" Sara laughed as she took a sip of her Pineapple fruited drink. "Although… I'm not complaining…" she smiled.

"Well… I did buy you a drink afterwards now, haven't I?" he joked as he took a sip of his beer. They were sitting at the fancy swim-up bar.

"That you did." She joked back.

"I suppose we should be heading to our massage and sauna treatment, our appointment is in roughly 45 minutes…"

"Let's finish our drinks first…" she replied pointing at her nearly empty glass.

"I suppose…" Grissom mock-pouted and that earned him a playful slap on the shoulder.

* * *

"Names please?" A man dressed to the nines asked the couple standing in front of them.

"Jeff and Amber Lyndsley. We have a reservation for 5 o'clock" Grissom answered the man.

The man was staring at his computer screen to check the reservation. "Yes, right this way sir and ma'am, and welcome to the Aloha Sauna and Spa." The man walked from behind the service counter and started walking towards two large doors. Grissom and Sara followed the man through the main doors and then into a small well illuminated room with massage tables.

"Your masseuses will be with you shortly. I hope you enjoy our facilities." She man smiled and was soon out of the room.

"Wow… this is a fancy place… couldn't imagine how much this treatment would cost back home…" Sara stood in the room, astonished at the fancy décor.

"I wouldn't want to know…" Grissom looked at the room and soon rested his gaze onto her, smiling. "Let's just enjoy this piece of paradise during out stay…" he added with a wink.

"That I will agree with…" she smiled back at him. Before Grissom could reply, two women dressed in hotel uniforms came into the room, each carrying what looked like fluffy housecoats.

"Good afternoon." One of the women spoke up. "I will be your masseuse." She looked at Grissom.

"And I will be your masseuse." The other one spoke up looking at Sara.

"Will you go undress and put these on please?" The first woman asked Grissom and Sara pointing at the robes in their hands.

Both women walked to them and handed the robes.

"Thank you." Grissom and Sara answered in unison. Both of them stood there awkwardly until one woman spoke up, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"First time customers?" She smiled seeing both Grissom and Sara nodding. "The changing rooms are behind you." She pointed to two doors on the opposing wall.

"Yeah, right…" Sara spoke up, walking in the direction pointed, Grissom on her heels, both of them each disappearing into the doors on the opposing wall.

10 minutes later…

They were both lying on their stomachs on the massaging tables while their masseuses started massaging their backs.

Why haven't I gone for more massages in the past? Grissom asked himself, feeling very much relaxed. That's when he thought he heard a strange noise come Sara… was she…? Grissom lifted his head from the massage table to take a peek.

"Is she snoring?" Grissom quietly asked his masseuse, which earned him a little chuckle in return.

"Many people fall asleep while getting massaged sir, relaxation at its best." She smiled in return.

Grissom smiled back at the woman as he settled back down and she continued to massage his back.

If this wasn't the life, Grissom didn't know what it was.

1 hour later…

"That has to be the massage I've ever had!" Sara told Grissom as they walked out of the room where they got their massages, a big smile on her face.

"I can believe it… you fell asleep and started snoring…" Grissom laughed as he grabbed her hand as they walked towards the saunas.

"I knew I fell asleep… but… I started snoring?" Did she really start snoring? She thought to herself.

Grissom started laughing. "Ask your masseuse…"

"Oh my god… that's embarrassing…" she started to blush.

"What did we say about blushing?" He playfully answered with a big smile.

"Oh, stop it!" she smiled as she playfully hit his shoulder.

"Ouch… my masseuse just massaged my shoulders and now you hit me? That's not very nice…" He looked at her with a mock-hurt look in his eyes.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Big baby…"

"Now you'll have to massage it better later tonight…" A near twinkle in his eyes was almost seen.

"Is that right?" she threw back at him with a wink.

"That's right." He almost looked… mischievous.

"Oh fine…" She playfully slapped his other shoulder. "Might as well massage both while at it…" She laughed.

"Might as well…" He laughed. "On another note…" They turned in a long corridor in search of 2 large doors that led to the saunas. "We better get to our sauna before someone snatches it."

"When's our appointment again?"

"We were supposed to be there 5 minutes ago, but someone had trouble waking up from their massage…" He turned to look at her with a frown.

"Continue this and you won't get your shoulder massage tonight…" She warned.

"Oh, so that's who it goes…"

"It sure is…" She winked back at him. "Well here we are…" She pointed to the large doors leading to the saunas.

"Let's go then…" He let go of her hand and put his arm around the small of her back to lead her through the doors.

* * *

"It sure is nice to relax in one of these…" Sara admitted, leaning back against the warm wood bench, letting the warm air comfort her.

"I couldn't agree more… it's nice to let go of all that is work behind and take a break from it all." He scooted closer to her on the warm bench, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"We should have done this a long time ago…" She admitted, leaning against his shoulder.

"All the more reason to catch up on it when we get home… Doesn't Catherine always brag about how good that fancy new spa down the Strip is?" He suggested.

"I think that's a great idea…" Sara was surprised at how Grissom was already starting to think about future plans in Vegas.

"But on 1 condition…" He added more seriously.

"Which is…"

"No one at work finds out… I need to keep my reputation you know…" he smiled back at her.

"Ah… come on… I'm sure Greg and Hodges would absolutely love to go with you at the spa…" She started laughing uncontrollably.

Grissom face turned to an expression of disgust. "That is one mental picture I did not want to have honey…"

Sara continued to laugh.

"And no, I would most definitely not want to do anything non-work related with either of them besides having a meal when everyone is present." He looked serious.

Sara stopped laughing a bit. "I'm just bugging you honey…" She turned to see his face. "I love you too much to torture you…" She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Is that better… Jeff?"

"Much better than any man-date with those two…" This time he leaned in and kissed her temple.

"Good." She leaned in closer to Grissom, feeling safe and secure in his embrace.

They both sat together, not saying anything, completely comfortable in the silence of the sauna. Suddenly, the lights in the sauna went out.

"What the…" Sara exclaimed, feeling Grissom's grip on her shoulders tighten. "What's going on??"

"Probably just a burnt light bulb, that's all…" He comforted her.

Just then, the sauna door suddenly opened, a hand appeared through the small crack and threw something onto the warm rocks that steamed the room, and vanish as quickly as it had appeared.

"What was that about?" Sara asked out loud, feeling her pulse quicken.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out…" Grissom got to his feet and walked towards where he thought the door was. He pulled and pushed on the door but it didn't budge.

"Honey…" He started, but he suddenly started to feel woozy. "I'm not feeling too well…" He muttered.

"Me neither…" Sara admitted with a small voice.

Before any more words could be said, both of them were consumed by the darkness, falling into the world of unconsciousness.

* * *

Grissom started to wake up, feeling a horrible headache starting at the back of his skull going to the very front of it. What had happened? Grissom slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the faint amount of light present.

"Where am I?" he asked, but it came out as a whisper. He looked around him. An old warehouse. "What am I doing in a warehouse? Am I dreaming?" He asked himself again, his voice a little louder this time. He looked down at his own body, sitting in an old dining room chair. He tried moving his hands, but they were tied behind his back…

* * *

Sara woke up, feeling terribly woozy. A soft voice behind her seemed to have woken her up.

Where am I? She thought to herself. She tried moving her hands, but they were tied up behind her back, and she was sitting in some kind of a chair, her bare feet tied at the bottom. Wait, she heard another sound coming from behind her… it was Grissom's voice.

"Honey?" She asked out loud with a weak voice.

Grissom couldn't believe his ears… did he just he just hear Sara's voice?

"Honey… is that you?" he asked.

"Gr… Jeff, what's going on?" She asked in confusion.

"It appears that we've been kidnapped and tied up… and my head sure hurts…" He tried moving his arms, but what ever was tied to his wrists hurt more and more as he tried to free himself.

Rewind to 5 hours earlier…

"Perfect…" A deep voice said, grinning. He stood outside the door leading into a sauna holding a key in his hand. "They won't be getting out of there until I want them to…" He laughed deeply. "Now we wait until darkness falls…"

* * *

The owner of the dark voice now sat in his dark SUV parked in the employees' parking lot, starting up the engine. The radio suddenly came to life, playing some tropical music.

"Hmmm… let's see… let's find something that's more your kind of music…" He toyed with the radio stations until Frank Sinatra's 'Fly me to the Moon' started filling the SUV. "To make you feel more at home…" He smiled as he looked into his rear-view mirror to look at two bound figures in the cargo area of his SUV. Neither of the bound figures replied.

"So quiet…" the man laughed as he put the vehicle in drive, and drove away from the hotel.

Meanwhile…

"What do you mean they disappeared??" Scott Montag yelled at his subordinate.

"I'm sorry sir… but they never came out of the Spa…" The other man replied.

"I thought we had the whole place under supervision!" Montag yelled again.

"We do sir, but not the inside of the spa…" He added with a weak voice.

"Who was supposed to be on duty at the time?" Montag was getting angrier by the second.

"That would be Robert Willingham, sir. We haven't heard from him in close to half an hour sir… We sent 2 FBI agents to his hotel room to check up on him, be he wasn't there. We are currently searching the grounds for him sir."

Before Montag could chew out the nervous man standing in front of him, his cell phone started ringing.

"Hello. Yes… Where? … Thank you, we'll be on our way." And he shut his cell phone with more force than needed.

"Sir?"

"They found Robert, but not the way we wanted to find him… He was found in a dumpster behind the hotel, his ID missing. We're called in investigate the scene, but keeping it under wraps to not cause any panic… The killer knows we're onto him." Montag sadly admitted.

"I'm so sorry sir…" His small voice to be barely heard.

"I'm sorry for what happened to him too…" Montag admitted, grabbing his field kit and heading out the door, the younger man quickly following him.

Fast forward to Present...

"The last thing I remember was being in that sauna…" Sara admitted from her chair. "Wait! The lights went out, then someone threw something onto the sauna rocks… possibly chloroform?" She concluded.

"She's a very smart doctor that one…" A deep voice complimented as it came closer. "Or should I say… a very smart for a crime scene investigator, miss Sidle…"

The mystery voice now stood in front of her.

"And you thought you could fool me… I worked for the Nevada PD you know…" He added proudly, staring into Sara's eyes.

"You… it's you!" Sara yelled. Grissom tried to turn around to take a look at the man but their chairs were tied to each other, back to back.

"Leonard Harper." Grissom blankly answered Sara's question.

"Very good Mr. Lyndsley… or should I say, Doctor Grissom?" Leonard walked around to the other side where Grissom was sitting.

"You thought you had me fooled with the new names, didn't you?" He smiled back at Grissom and continued to walk around in a circle to stand in front of Sara. "And your changes in appearance came to me as much of a surprise…" He leaned in and brushed Sara's hair with his hand, then out of nowhere punched her squarely on the jaw. Sara let out a ragged breath.

"How dare you lay a hand on her!" Grissom yelled from behind Sara, his bottled up anger coming out.

"Or what… " Leonard walked over to Grissom. "You going to dust my prints and put me away?" He laughed as he put his hands together as if they were handcuffed. "The FBI have been trying to do that for years… They haven't caught me yet!" He laughed evilly again.

"We'll just see about that!" Grissom barked back.

"If you're going to be such a pain about it, let me go and get the necessary equipment…" He smiled back at Grissom before disappearing behind a few large pallets full of boxes.

"Griss?" Sara questioned in a weak voice.

"Sara! You okay? What did he do to you??" Grissom worriedly asked.

"He punched me…" she weakly answered.

"Oh, he is sure going to regret that!" Grissom's outburst surprised Sara. He quickly softened up. "Sara, Honey, how bad is it?"

Sara didn't have the time to answer before Leonard came back.

"Honey, eh?" He laughed. "You two are definitely unique in regards to my M.O…" He started to walk around them in a circle. "Before, I only murdered married couples… but your case takes the cake…" He laughed some more. "Two co-workers that are sent out to impersonate a married couple… but that end up falling for each other… A very interesting case indeed." He stopped walking and stared at Grissom in the eyes. "Wouldn't you agree, Doctor Grissom?"

"You can go to hell Leonard." Grissom replied bitterly.

"How dare you insult me!" Leonard grabbed a police baton attached to his hip and hit Grissom squarely on the shoulder. Grissom winced at the pain.

"Might as well hurt you with your own equipment…" He laughed.

"Now, since I am the one leading the interrogation, you must follow my rules…" Leonard warned. "If I do not like your answer, there will be a price to pay… even for you my dear…" he looked intently at Sara. "You sure look like a feisty one…" He smiled. "You must have your hands full with this one, Gil." He continued to walk around in circles. "Now where was I…? Ah yes… my interrogation…"

Grissom tried to free his hands again.

"Ah ah ah…" Leonard waved his index finger. "Play by my rules… or I'll be using more than the baton next time…" He warned with a dark icy gaze. "Now… let me start…" He continued to walk around. "My first question… do you love her?" He asked Grissom, staring at him with his bright green eyes.

"Yes, I do." Grissom answered back with angry eyes.

"Very good…" He proceeded to walk to Sara's side. "And do you love him?"

"Yes…" Sara weakly answered.

"Very good again, exactly what I wanted to hear…" He smoothed over his Hawaiian shirt and continued. "Now… for my second question to the both of you… Do you think your newfound love is worth the risk? Mr Grissom? Miss Sidle?"

"Yes" they answered in unison.

"Good, good…" Leonard nodded. "So far so good…" He continued his walking around them. "Now for my third question… is your love worth dying for?" He asked followed with an evil grin on his face. Leonard waited a few seconds for his question to settle in their minds.

"And?"

"Yes it would." Grissom plainly answered.

"Is that so?" Leonard asked back. "So, for example, if I were to torture your partner sitting behind you to the brink of death, would you give up your life to save hers?" He threw back at Grissom, who was getting angrier by the second.

"I most certainly would." Grissom shot back to Sara's surprise. He would give up his life to save hers…

"Wow… I'm impressed Doctor Grissom, No hesitation whatsoever. Very unlike any of my previous victims… Interesting…" Leonard walked around some more, thinking it over. "You two are definitely a unique case…" He remained pensive until Sara broke the silence.

"And so would I…" She weakly admitted.

Leonard suddenly stood there surprised. "Well that's a first in my book…" He admitted surprised. "I will definitely remember this one…" He added with a serious tone. "I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with you just yet… your love for each other is so strong… hmm… I'm going to need time to think a little… and maybe get creative with my torture techniques…" Leonard stood by himself, staring into space, putting some kind of plan at work.

"I've have had enough of this!" Grissom yelled out loud, the echo of his voice resonating against the walls of the warehouse. "You're NOT going to lay a single hand on her!" He barked back at Leonard.

"Hmm… such strong emotions from a private and calm man… all the more fun I will have with you…" Leonard grinned back at Grissom.

"You can go to hell before I let you do anything to him!" Sara yelled back at him from behind.

"You have some nerve, you know that?" Leonard walked around angrily to Sara, but not without Grissom seeing him take out a 9 mm firearm from his pocket.

"You know what? I'm tired of you two! Enough's enough!" He stood in front of Sara with the gun pointing at her forehead.

"You don't scare me! I have guns pointed at me all the time!" Sara wasn't quite sure where she had found the courage to confront the man holding a weapon towards her.

"Doctor Grissom, I must apologize to you in advance for what I am going to do…" He cocked back the gun and took off the safety.

"Say goodbye to your future wife!" Leonard yelled at Grissom.

"Sara!" Grissom yelled, but the echo of a gun being fired echoed in the dark warehouse.

"You son of a …" Grissom started, but was surprised to see a slightly older man than him dressed in dark pants and a dark dressy shirt run towards him, holding a firearm in his hands. He quickly put away his gun and held out a piece of identification.

"Mark Bishop. Private Investigator from Las Vegas Nevada. Are you alright sir?" He asked Grissom who sat there confused and in shock.

"I suppose…" Grissom answered, but the man quickly turned around to where Sara was sitting.

"Miss…. Miss, are you alright?" He asked from behind Grissom. Sara was still alive???

A weak "Yes" was heard as Sara stared at the limp form on the ground that was none other than Leonard Harper.

"I need to get you two of out here and seek medical attention." He quickly grabbed his cell phone from his pocket.

"Yes, 911? Send and ambulance and police to 1873 Tropicana Way Immediately. One 419 and two injured. Thank you." He quickly closed the cell phone and shoved it into his pocket again.

"First, we need to get you untied…" He grabbed a small foldable knife from his other pocket and started to cut through the duct-tape that was holding them to the chairs.

"Who are you?" Grissom inquired.

"Mark Bishop, sir."

"I mean, who are you related to Harper and why are you here?" Grissom questioned.

"To keep a long story short sir, I am a retired lieutenant from Carson City PD and used to work with Harper back in the day, but after his incident, I retired and became a Private Investigator, conducting my own investigations. His former girlfriend's parents hired me to get to the bottom of her murder since the FBI wasn't getting anywhere…" He sadly informed.

Grissom nodded as the information began to settle into his mind.

"I have been following Mr. Harper throughout his stay at the resort, and followed him to this abandoned warehouse. That is when I found him taking you hostage."

"Thank you." Grissom couldn't believe his ears. He suddenly felt his hands and feet become free from their restraints.

"No problem sir." Mark quickly ran to Sara who was still silent, but still heard everything the man had said.

"Thank you…" She said, but it came out as a small whisper.

"No problem miss." He smiled, but it quickly turned to concern when he turned her head to the side to look at where Harper had hit her on the face.

"Sara!" Grissom quickly grabbed the pocket-knife from Mark's hands and quickly cut through the duct tape that kept her hostage.

"Sara! Honey!" Grissom moved closer, slightly pushing Mark out of the way. "This doesn't look good…" He gently touched her face where a dark bruise was starting to form.

"It's okay Griss…" She quickly wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he helped her up from the chair.

"You had me so worried!" Grissom tightened his grip on her frail frame. "I love you so much…"

"Me too…" She answered back as she started crying into his shoulder.

"At least I was able to do something…" Mark thought to himself, looking at the two people in front of him, then at the dead body that lay on the ground.

Meanwhile…

"Sir!" A young FBI agent yelled as he ran. "Montag sir!" He yelled again.

"What is it now John…" Montag stood up from the ground with a broken piece of brake light from a vehicle in his gloved hand.

"Just got a call from 911! An old warehouse at 1873 Tropicana Way. 419 and two injured. Might be our two missing undercover agents and the suspect!"

Montag quickly bagged is piece of evidence. "Let's go." He answered before jumping in his unmarked SUV, the younger man quickly jumping into the passenger seat. The unmarked SUV quickly drove away, squealing its tires along the way.

* * *

The loud sirens of an ambulance and police cars could be heard from outside the old warehouse.

"They're here…" Mark stated the obvious as the police came rushing in with paramedics quickly running behind them.

"Everyone, hands in the air!" The police yelled at the 3 individuals standing in the middle of the warehouse. They complied. The officers quickly ran to Grissom, Sara and Mark while the paramedics checked on Leonard Harper lying on the ground.

"No pulse." One paramedic told another.

"Are any of you armed?" one of the officers asked the three individuals.

"I am. 9 mm in my front pocket." Mark replied, his hands still in the air. The officer walked up to Mark and disarmed him.

"Now could someone care to explain the situation?" The officer asked them.

"Mark Bishop. Private Investigator unofficially following the FBI case of Leonard Harper. I'm formerly Lieutenant Mark Bishop from Carson City Nevada PD." He pointed to his identification on his front pocket. "I shot Leonard Harper when he was about to shoot the lady you see before you." He motioned to Sara who stood arms up beside Grissom.

"And who might you be?" He pointed to Grissom and Sara.

"They would be Doctor Gilbert Grissom and Sara Sidle working and undercover case with us." A loud voice said in the entrance of the warehouse.

The officer quickly turned around to where the voice came from.

"And you are?"

"Scott Montag, FBI." He showed his badge. "How dare you treat my undercover agents as suspects!" He quickly walked up to the officer. "Order them to lower their weapons immediately!" He told the man.

The officer nodded to his fellow officers as they slowly put their weapons down.

"You… you're Mark Bishop aren't you?" Montag asked the man who stood quietly beside Grissom and Sara.

"Yes I am." He nodded. "I shot the suspect when he kidnapped, tortured and was about to shoot miss Sidle here." He pointed to Sara.

Montag slowly walked up to Mark. "It's an honor to finally meet you." He reached his hand out. "We knew you've been following the case closely for years. We've been trying to contact you."

"I prefer to work solo. No offense Montag sir." Mark answered.

"None taken." Montag turned to Sara and Grissom. "Oh my, you two should get checked out by paramedics…" He motioned to the paramedics to attend Sara and Grissom's minor injuries.

"We've finally got Harper at last…" Montag said as he turned to Mark who nodded quietly.

* * *

"I'm so glad it's all over…" Sara walked with Grissom, their arms hooked together.

"I couldn't agree more." He agreed as they continued to walk along the beach in the moonlight.

"So, I suppose we can enjoy the rest of our little vacation now that it's all over…" She smiled back at him.

He smiled. "It was really considerate of the FBI to extend our stay for another week free of charge…" He winked at her as he stopped walking to look at her in her eyes, holding her hands in his.

"What's wrong?" She asked. He looked serious all of a sudden. Not angry, but serious.

He raised one hand to softly trace her jaw line where Harper had struck her. "I was so worried Sara, so worried of losing you in that warehouse… it seemed like, my life… all the time I've spent with you… had flashed before my eyes… I was scared…" He looked like he was on the brink of tears.

"Oh Gil…" She brought her hand to rest on his. "I was scared too… I saw my life flash before my eyes when he was ready to pull that trigger… I saw you… the real you…" Her eyes started to get misty.

"Don't cry Amber…" He wiped away her tear, but was surprised when she had a weak smile. "What is it?"

"You called me Amber… You know you don't need to call me that anymore…" She smiled at him, looking deeply into his blue eyes.

"I did?" He looked surprised. "I guess old habits die hard…" He laughed. "Just now that I was warming up to the idea…" He winked at her.

"Were you?" She inquired with a smile.

"Yes… along with the new make-over…" He ran his hand through her blonde hair.

"You like the blonde that much?" She asked surprised.

"Very much so…" He leaned in and was about to kiss her. "Although… I do miss the glasses…" He added before planting his lips onto hers in a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and then ran her fingers through his hair.

"Oh my…" Sara kept her eyes closed and felt like she was floating on a cloud. She slowly opened up her eyes. "If that's the way you're going to treat me, I'm dying my hair blonde for the rest of my life…" She grinned as they looked into each other's eyes, her hands resting on his shoulders.

"I won't argue with that… Although Catherine won't be too happy to have a new rival…" He poked back at her.

"I'll worry about that later… we still have a week before we need to worry about Vegas again…"

"I'm glad Montag and the FBI agreed to keep, you know, this, under covers from Ecklie."

"What happens in Hawaii, stays in Hawaii… Ecklie doesn't need to know the details… only that we caught the guy." She smiled deeply.

"I like your motto…" He quickly kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand with his. "How about we find someplace to sit?"

"Sure." And they started to walk towards a small bench along the beach.

"Honey, there's something I want to talk to you about…" They sat down beside each other on the small wood bench.

"What is it Gil?" She placed a hand on his. He looked nervous all of a sudden for some strange reason.

"I… um… been thinking…" He stammered.

"More than you usually do?" She joked.

"Actually yes, more than usual…" He took a deep breath to try to calm his nerves. "Sorry, I've never done anything like this before…" He apologized.

"Go ahead…" She urged him.

"Well, with everything that's happened in Vegas and here, it got me thinking, thinking about the now and later instead of the past… like I usually did." Why was he being so cryptic? Sara thought.

He took another deep breath and exhaled loudly, slowly getting up from the bench.

"Where are you going?" She asked him worriedly.

"Nowhere honey…" He slowly crouched down to the ground, pulling something from his shorts pocket.

"Oh my God…" Sara said astonished, covering her mouth in surprise.

"I know we haven't been together a long time, but sometimes it doesn't take long to realize that the person you admire and love the most is right there in front of you all this time." He brought his closed hand in front of him. "And that person is you Sara. I know I've liked you for years, but thanks to you, I finally know what it is to love someone now…" Sara's eyes started to fill up with tears. "Oh Gil…"

"Also, with all this time in Hawaii portraying a married couple, I came to realize that it's something that I would really want to have with you. So I ask you now… Sara Sidle, aka Amber Lyndsley, would you marry me?" There, he had said it, he felt like a 2 ton weight was lifted from his shoulders. He slowly opened up the small jewelry box in his hand to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

"Oh my God Gil! Yes!" He carefully slid the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly.

He slowly got up to his feet and Sara took her chance and quickly grabbed his shirt to pull him back down to the bench, kissing him before he even got the chance to protest.

"I love you so much!" She wrapped her arms around him in a big hug, but slowly backed away. "Wait… When did you have time to go shopping for this?"

"Room service has many different services you know…" He winked back at her. "I still don't understand why you don't like Philippe… he was sure handy to help me pick out a ring…"

"What? You have to be kidding me!" Her eyes started to pop out of their sockets.

"Not at all." He started laughing as he sat more comfortably beside her on the bench, taking her hand in his.

"That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is if you like it… And I hope you liked this proposal more than the one I gave you on the flight here…" He laughed.

"You never cease to amaze me Gil…"

"Neither do you…" He quickly kissed her cheek as she laid her head on his shoulder. They stared at the endless sky of stars that lay overhead of the soft crashing of the waves on the beach. There was a quick flash of light in the sky.

"Did you just see that?" Sara asked him with surprise.

"A shooting star in Hawaii, who would have thought?" He replied surprised.

"What are you going to wish for?" She asked him.

"I don't need to, I've already have everything I ever wanted right here with me." And he kissed her before she could think of a reply.

* * *

The End…?


End file.
